CollabSphere: A Virtual Simulation System for Human-Robot Collaboration and Evaluation

Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) in shared workspaces is an emerging robotic application model that has been widely used in the real world. However, most human-robot collaboration in shared spaces is evaluated on simple physical platforms, lacking experimental realism and scalability. To better study the methods and significance of human-robot collaboration, we have developed a new reusable virtual simulation system. This system allowed humans to enter a 3D virtual environment by wearing VR devices, establishing a human-in-the-loop human-robot collaboration environment. The environment supported human-robot collaboration, combat missions, and robot expansion. To validate our system, we created a human-robot collaboration task benchmark and conducted preliminary user research. The results showed that the differences in collaboration outcomes between humans and robots with varying capabilities confirm that our system can evaluate HRC efficiency, providing researchers with more effective tools. Future development directions include further enhancing the system’s intelligence level, improving its adaptability in dynamic and unstructured environments. With continuous optimization and expansion, this system is expected to become an important tool in HRC research, promoting the development and application of HRC technology.