Read the interview with Óscar González Represas and Héctor J. Pérez Iglesias and their winning proposal: Robot teleoperation through immersive environments (ROTIE)
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Óscar González Represas and Héctor J. Pérez Iglesias from ITG

Óscar González is the director of the Artificial Intelligence and TIC Area of ITG and Héctor Pérez is the Robotics and Hardware Manager of the same department.
ITG, Galicia Technology Institute, is a private non-profit research centre. ITG’s mission is the development of tailored digitalisation solutions to boost competitiveness and innovation in companies and organisations. ITG’s main fields of expertise are: Sustainable Construction, Intelligent Energy, Water Technologies, Industry 4.0, UAVs and Software Engineering, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. ITG develops tailored AI services and products, including robotics, immersive technology, computer vision and language technology solutions. ITG submitted this proposal alone.

Can you give a brief overview of your winning proposal?
What are its key objectives and innovative aspects?

ROTIE aims to transform human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions by developing new HID (Human Interface Devices) to remotely operate robots, recreating the physical space where the robot is in, so the remote worker is perfectly aware of the environment and can operate the robot to perform specific tasks avoiding possible risks at the real environment. Combining robots and immersive technologies seems the step forward to transform human-to-machine interactions, both in physical and virtual environments.

Simultaneously, ROTIE can also be used to regenerate scenes and develop digital twins. The virtual scene would be displayed in quasi real time applications running on different devices. The remote operator will be able to run the equipment using different types of controls related to HID. Our proposal includes the acquisition of 2D and 3D images and spatial sounds on the environment, to enrich the perception that is offered to the end user.  

What motivated you to apply for the SPIRIT Open Call?

The characteristics of the SPIRIT platform and its ultimate objectives align with many objectives of ITG’s various lines of technological innovation, specifically those of augmented reality, robotics, computer vision, and natural language processing. For ITG, the opportunity to participate in SPIRIT’s second open call as an external collaborator to validate and test our applications on the platform represented a valuable opportunity to improve and expand the capabilities of our solutions within this multi-site, interconnected, Europe-wide platform for real-time immersive telepresence applications.
Besides, it is expected to achieve a significant impact on ITG in the future, expanding and improving our range of services related to robotics and virtual reality. Our organisation collaborates with many SMEs offering advanced services, which could also be enhanced in the future thanks to the results of ROTIE, because we have detected significant interest among our clients and partners in implementing these solutions in their facilities.

How do you envision this project making an impact?

ROTIE will make a difference for ITG, as it will allow us to boost our work on virtual and mixed environments joined with remotely operated robots. The main outcome will be a software able to create virtual worlds using robots deployed in a certain scenario. This solution is applicable to several fields, such as manufacturing, emergency management, civil infrastructure and offshore facilities maintenance, and many others. The project outcome will be the starting point for different innovative services to solve specific needs for different industries and SMEs, one of ITG main fields of activity.
The scientific community will benefit from ROTIE because it is expected to produce at least one open-access publication and a conference communication.
ROTIE will contribute to advancing SPIRIT platform. The robot teleoperation by immersive environments will expand the functionalities of the platform, using innovative interfaces to enhance the user experience by integrating images and spatial sounds.