Telewheelchair: the Remote Controllable Electric Wheelchair System combined Human and Machine Intelligence

Wheelchairs are essential means of transport for the elderly people and the physically challenged. However, wheelchairs need to be accompanied by caregivers. As society ages and the number of care recipients increases, the burden on caregivers is expected to increase. In order to reduce the burden on caregivers, we present Telewheelchair, an electric wheelchair equipped with a remote control function and computational operation assistance function. The caregiver can remotely control the Telewheelchair by means of a head mounted display (HMD). In addition, the proposed system is equipped with a human detection system to stop the wheelchair automatically and avoid collisions.We conducted a user study on the wheelchair in four types of systems and investigated the time taken to achieve tasks. Telewheelchair will enhance geriatric mobility and improve society by combining human intelligence and machine intelligence.