Human-Machine Interfaces for Subsea Telerobotics: From Soda-straw to Natural Language Interactions

This review explores the evolution of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for subsea telerobotics, tracing back the transition from traditional first-person "soda-straw" consoles (narrow field-of-view camera feed) to advanced interfaces powered by gesture recognition, virtual reality, and natural language models. First, we discuss various forms of subsea telerobotics applications, current state-of-the-art (SOTA) interface systems, and the challenges they face in robust underwater sensing, real-time estimation, and low-latency communication. Through this analysis, we highlight how advanced HMIs facilitate intuitive interactions between human operators and robots to overcome these challenges. A detailed review then categorizes and evaluates the cutting-edge HMI systems based on their offered features from both human perspectives (e.g., enhancing operator control and situational awareness) and machine perspectives (e.g., improving safety, mission accuracy, and task efficiency). Moreover, we examine the literature on bidirectional interaction and intelligent collaboration in terms of sensory feedback and intuitive control mechanisms for both physical and virtual interfaces. The paper concludes by identifying critical challenges, open research questions, and future directions, emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary collaboration in subsea telerobotics.