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Lead the Way is a virtual reality system and design space for robot-mediated pull-force haptics in redirected walking. By connecting a user to a mobile robot through a physical tether, the system provides dynamic embodied guidance as users move through virtual environments larger than the available physical tracking space.

ACME Lab

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Space-training simulations may require astronauts to navigate large environments, coordinate with robotic systems, and move while connected to tethers or safety lines. These activities are difficult to reproduce within a conventional virtual reality tracking space. Redirected Walking addresses this limitation by mapping movement through a large virtual environment onto a smaller physical area, but users may notice the redirection or experience reduced spatial presence.

Lead the Way explores how physical pull-force feedback can make redirected walking more embodied and meaningful. Instead of using haptics only to distract users from visual manipulation, the system treats pulling forces as part of the simulated activity—for example, following a rover, maintaining an extravehicular activity (EVA) safety tether, or receiving guidance from a robotic partner.

The Lead the Way design space includes real-world space size, virtual-world space size, haptic continuity, robot type, Redirected Walking algorithm, and interactive subject in virtual reality.

The project introduces a six-dimensional design space that includes real-world space size, virtual-world space size, haptic continuity, robot type, Redirected Walking algorithm, and the interactive subject represented in virtual reality. These dimensions help designers adapt robot-mediated haptics across different environments, tasks, and robot configurations.

The design space is illustrated through scenarios including a Moon Rock Collection Mission using discrete object-based haptics, a Space Station Maintenance Mission using body-level tether feedback, and a dog-walking task that acts as a proxy for following a mobile agent.

From space-training scenarios to an implemented prototype

The implemented prototype uses a Boston Dynamics Spot robot to guide users through an urban virtual environment. Users wear a virtual reality headset and hold a physical leash connected to Spot while following a virtual dog. The system coordinates the robot’s movement with a zig-zag Redirected Walking path so that the physical pulling direction remains aligned with the virtual experience.

The dog-walking interaction serves as a proxy for tethered and robot-guided movement in space-training simulations, including EVA navigation, rover-assisted guidance, and astronaut–robot coordination.

System and user study

Lead the Way combines a virtual reality application, a Redirected Walking system, physical tracking, and robot control. Unity coordinates the virtual experience while a Python-based controller triggers prerecorded Spot navigation missions. A manual controller provides a safety override so that the researcher can stop or redirect the robot.

A within-subject study with 16 participants compared Lead the Way with a baseline condition without physical haptic feedback. Participants completed the same virtual dog-walking task in both conditions, following six virtual waypoints while the Redirected Walking system mapped the virtual path onto a repeated physical path.

Findings

Lead the Way significantly increased spatial presence compared with the non-haptic baseline. Motion sickness remained low and was not significantly reduced. Participants generally described the physical leash as more realistic and easier to follow, while also emphasizing the importance of robot distance, alignment, comfort, and safety.

The project demonstrates how mobile robots can function as embodied haptic guides rather than only as physical proxies for virtual objects. This approach opens possibilities for space-training simulations involving tethered EVA navigation, rover-led exploration, astronaut–robot collaboration, and other activities in which physical forces can guide movement through large virtual environments.

Amy Banić, Department of Computer Science, University of Wyoming

Pritalee Kadam, MS Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder��

This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I award to Diamond Age Technology LLC for the project *Hyper-realistic Elastically Computed Topologies in Adaptive Reality Environments (HECTARE)*, under Contract No. 80NSSC22PB008, with the University of Colorado Boulder serving as the research institution.

Supported by NASA through an STTR Phase I award to Diamond Age Technology LLC, with the University of Colorado Boulder serving as the research institution.

Suibi Che-Chuan Weng, David Hunter, Pritalee Kadam, Amy Banić, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, and Daniel Leithinger. 2026. “Lead the Way: A Design Space for Robot-Mediated Pull-Force Haptics in Redirected Walking for Space Training.” In: Accepted for presentation at SpaceCHI 2026. (Mountain View, CA, September 24–25, 2026).