From Perception to Action: Integrating Sensing and Virtual Reality in Human–Robot Interaction
A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensors and Robotics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 February 2027 | Viewed by 72
Editors
Interests: perceptual-motor skills; human perception and action; motor learning & control; sport performance analysis; rehabilitation
Interests: design of 3D user interfaces; interaction techniques, and devices for virtual/augmented/mixed reality (XR) environments; immersive visualizations, and virtual humans
Interests: sensors and edge computing for robotics; real-time sensor networks; environmental sensing; data analytics; space biology; astrobiology; digital twin systems; robotic autonomy and AI; Image processing; embedded systems; optical & fluorescence microscopy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The convergence of advanced sensing technologies and immersive virtual reality (VR) is transforming the landscape of human–robot interaction (HRI), enabling fluid human–robot collaboration across healthcare, manufacturing, rehabilitation, and space exploration.
Multimodal sensors capturing real-time physiological and behavioral signals are enabling robots to perceive and predict human intent, cognitive state, and motor behavior with unprecedented fidelity. Simultaneously, VR provides a controllable, safe, and ecologically rich experimental environment that accelerates HRI research beyond the constraints of purely physical platforms.
Despite this momentum, critical challenges persist around sensor validation, multimodal fusion, real-time closed-loop control, sim-to-real transfer, and translational deployment. This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to sensing-integrated, VR-enabled HRI.
We consider contributions addressing topics including, but not limited to, the following:
- Sensor validation, calibration, and multimodal biosignal fusion for intent recognition
- Brain–computer and hybrid interfaces
- AI-driven adaptive autonomy
- Digital-twin-based HRI and training
- VR/AR/XR-based teleoperation in sensing-enabled HRI
- Human factors, ergonomics, user experience, and ethics (safety, reliability, privacy) in closed-loop HRI
- Spatial interfaces and interaction techniques that broaden the capabilities of sensors
- Multi-modal interfaces
- Deployment of sensing-enhanced HRI in healthcare, manufacturing, rehabilitation, space exploration, and other domains
Prof. Dr. Qin Zhu
Prof. Dr. Amy Banic
Dr. Jian Gong
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- human–robot interaction
- virtual reality
- head-mounted display
- eye tracking
- sensor fusion
- motion capture
- brain–computer interface
- teleoperation
- digital twin
- immersive technology
- spatial interaction
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