The National Science Foundation is honoring a Mississippi State University industrial engineer who is researching a technology that expands the concept of virtual reality.
David Kaber said the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award provides $465,000 over a four-year period. It will support his study of telepresence, which he describes as "the sense of being present at a remote site."
Telepresence has been identified as a way to make operators of remote-control robots--teleoperators--more effective by giving them a sense of actually being at the distant location.
A goal of Kaber's research is the design and development of teleoperator technologies that can effectively transport human capabilities into far-away environments. One possible application is the exploration of Mars by robotic systems using Earth-based controllers.
"This award will help foster a relationship between our industrial engineering department and Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Robotics and Process Systems Division," Kaber said. "The collaboration will involve research into teleoperator systems and human psychological factors influencing telepresence."
The award also will enable MSU to develop engineering courses on teleoperator and virtual environment design, he added.
Kaber, who joined the MSU faculty in 1996, holds a doctorate from Texas Tech University, with a specialization in human factors and ergonomics. He also earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Central Florida.
