Theta Frequency Band in the EEG Signal as Neurocognitive Indicator of Cognitive Load for Collaborative Tasks Involving Robot Teleoperation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23039335 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Magda Mustile (0000-0002-7903-3184, Italian Institute of Technology, corresponding author), Kyveli Kompatsiari (0000-0001-9417-8325, Italian Institute of Technology, corresponding author), Davide De Tommaso (0000-0003-2132-5261, Italian Institute of Technology), Nicola Severino Russi (Italian Institute of Technology), Stefano Dafarra (0000-0002-1575-5188, Italian Institute of Technology), Giacomo Novembre (0000-0002-4723-4344, Italian Institute of Technology), Daniele Pucci (0000-0002-7600-3203, Italian Institute of Technology), Agnieszka Wykowska (0000-0003-3323-7357, Italian Institute of Technology, corresponding author) |
| Editors | Reza Rostamzadeh (0000-0002-6161-7173) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 2026 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2578-1863 • E-ISSN: 2578-1863 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1155/hbe2/4528417 |
| OpenAlex | W7160822590 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 69 |
The aim of the present study was to identify metrics of cognitive effort during robot teleoperation in a social context of joint collaborative task performed with another human user. Robotics teleoperation enables control of artificial systems in remote environments but is often cognitively challenging. Measuring human cognitive effort during teleoperation has largely relied on subjective measures like questionnaires. To evaluate the quality of teleoperated systems, it is critical to investigate objective measures of cognitive effort directly in natural contexts, especially during social interactions with individuals encountering the teleoperated robot. In two separate experiments, we recorded—with dual EEG—brain activity of participants performing a cooperative task. In the first experiment, participants were asked to perform a cooperative task in a direct human–human interaction setup. In the second experiment, the interaction was mediated by the iCub robot, teleoperated by one of the participants using a VR headset (human–robot–human interaction). The EEG data revealed an increase of power in the theta (4–7 Hz) frequency band in the robot‐mediated interaction, relative to human–human interaction, likely reflecting the additional cognitive load required by robot teleoperation. This demonstrates that using EEG in teleoperation might provide a reliable metric of the quality of the system and a way to tap onto cognitive mechanisms underlying the user′s experience in teleoperation.
Cognition · Cognitive Load · Context (archaeology) · Electroencephalography · iCub · Robot · Task (project management) · Teleoperation · EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces · Social Robot Interaction and HRI · Teleoperation and Haptic Systems
| Highly cited | No |
|---|