Swimoid is a swim support system using an underwater robot that can follow a swimmer and present information to a user by the use of  a display.

In recent years, Underwater Human-Robot Interaction (UHRI) is considered to be a important topic within the area of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Despite the previous studies in the field, the methodology of presenting information from robots to humans in underwater environments has not yet been fully investigated. In this paper, we propose a new concept of an underwater robot called the “Buddy Robot”. The buddy robot has the ability to give out visual information to human using display devices. The buddy robot also has the ability to recognize and support humans. As one specific example of the concept, we developed a swim support system called “Swimoid”. Swimoid’s underwater robot is equipped with two cameras for following the swimmers, and a LCD display over the main body to give out information. The current prototype consists of two applications; a self-awareness application that enables swimmers to recognize themselves swimming form in real time, and a coaching application which enables coaches on the pool side to give instructions to swimmers in real time. As a result of user tests, we were able to prove its usefulness, and understand the issues upon future exploration.

References

• Yu Ukai, Jun Rekimoto Swimoid: A Swim Support System using An Underwater Buddy Robot Full Paper, 4th International Conference in Cooperation with ACM SIGCHI(AH2013), March 2013

• Yu Ukai, Jun Rekimoto Swimoid: Interacting with An Underwater Buddy Robot Late Breaking Report & Video,8th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction(HRI2013), March 2013

• 鵜飼 佑,暦本 純一 Swimoid: 伴泳ロボットを用いた水泳支援システム 登壇発表,WISS2012, September 2012