Effects of interface design and spatial ability on teleoperation cognitive load and task performance

Human-machine interfaces (HMIs) of teleoperation have become the primary method for astronauts to perceive and understand the unknown environment, as well as to accurately control remote mechanical devices to perform long-distance tasks in space. However, the spatial relationship conversion between the 2D interface information and dynamic objects in 3D space brings significant challenges to human spatial abilities, which may limit teleoperation performance. Furthermore, current designs of teleoperation HMIs ignore individual differences, failing to achieve human-centered adaptive adjustments. This study investigated the impact of HMIs designs (control and display interface) and spatial abilities (mental rotation ability and perspective-taking ability) on teleoperation cognitive load and task performance. We designed spatial manipulator teleoperation experiments using four HMIs with different control (buttons/joysticks) and display (graphical/numerical) modes. Results indicated that variations in spatial abilities directly affected the change of cognitive load during teleoperation. Furthermore, providing different display information and control modes for different spatial abilities effectively enhanced task performance. For operators with low perspective-taking ability, numerical information for display tended to improve operational efficiency, whereas for operators with low mental rotation ability, button interfaces were more helpful in reducing error rates. These findings underscore the importance of assessing operators’ cognitive load in supporting adaptive design of teleoperation HMIs based on spatial abilities.