A new computer assistance concept for bilateral telepresence is introduced which increases telepresent task performance without being explicitly perceived by the operator. Therefore, no training related to the assistance functions is needed, and intuitive telepresence is maintained. In the presented study, we analyze how an intelligent teleoperator can correct the inputs of the operator most efficiently without degrading the feeling of presence. It is expected that there is a tradeoff between maximizing task performance and maintaining feeling of presence. However, our experiments show that appropriate computer assistance methods can increase task performance and feeling of presence at the same time.
Ulrich Unterhinninghofen, Franziska K. B. Freyberg