Virtual Exoskeleton for Telemanipulation Josep Amat IRI. Robotics Institute (UPC/CSIC). Campus Nord UPC 08034 Barcelona, Spain Manel Frigola and Alícia Casals Dep. of Automatic Control and Computer Engineering Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Pau Gargallo, nº 5, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Email: frigola, casals@esaii.upc.es Abstract: The growing number of robotics application fields, mainly in services, has led to the increase of new needs as well as the development of new facilities for teleoperation. Research in the design of more efficient and easy to use human-machine interfaces has propitiated the development of friendly communication systems such as those based on voice or gesture recognition. This work describes a vision based human-machine communication system that allows a computer or a control unit to “see and track” the position of the hands of a human. Thus, the vision system can be used as a virtual exoskeleton for simple telemanipulation tasks. 1. Introduction Teleoperation as a means to operate a robot using the intelligence of a human requires the availability of adequate human-machine interfaces. The use of communication means such as natural language or gestures enables us to expand teleoperation to new application fields, making it possible for any kind of user to operate a robot in different work environments. This is possible because human- robot interaction becomes much more comfortable and easier. The operation of a robot by means of a joystick is very common in areas such as civil engineering, in applications for parts manipulation in construction, or in the guidance, from a van, of mobile robots within sewers, among others. When the number of degrees of freedom to control is high or the operation to be performed requires certain ability, it is convenient to use more sophisticated devices. Different hand-held devices have been designed to facilitate this human- robot interaction. Other structures, such as the well known phantom devices, that introduce the concept of haptics, provide augmented reality in the interaction of the robot with the environment. These kinds of devices are extremely useful in application fields ranging from space to surgery, areas in which perception is essential to understand the evolution of a teleoperated task. In all these areas, such physical interfaces enable a human operator to interact with real or virtual