A Neuro-inspired Theory of Joint Human-Swarm Interaction

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of human-swarm interaction by proposing a neuro-inspired joint loop that treats the swarm as an extension of the human nervous system through a distributed neural overlay. It outlines four testable hypotheses to balance human and swarm roles, emphasizing comprehensible passive human interaction, distributed swarm signaling, local-to-global information propagation, and multi-modal sensory integration. This framework aims to yield adaptive, robust, and scalable HSI designs with clear design guidance for future empirical validation. Overall, it offers a cybernetic, bio-inspired perspective to guide the development of integrated, mission-oriented human-swarm systems in complex environments.

Abstract

Human-swarm interaction (HSI) is an active research challenge in the realms of swarm robotics and human-factors engineering. Here we apply a cognitive systems engineering perspective and introduce a neuro-inspired joint systems theory of HSI. The mindset defines predictions for adaptive, robust and scalable HSI dynamics and therefore has the potential to inform human-swarm loop design.