There has been a growing interest in extending the capabilities of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in subsea missions, particularly in integrating underwater human-robot interaction (UHRI) for control. UHRI and its subfield,underwater gesture recognition (UGR), play a significant role in enhancing diver-robot communication for marine research. This review explores the latest developments in UHRI and examines its promising applications for multi-robot systems. With the developments in UGR, opportunities are presented for underwater robots to work alongside human divers to increase their functionality. Human gestures creates a seamless and safe collaborative environment where divers and robots can interact more efficiently. By highlighting the state-of-the-art in this field, we can potentially encourage advancements in underwater multi-robot system (UMRS) blending the natural communication channels of human-robot interaction with the multi-faceted coordination capabilities of underwater swarms,thus enhancing robustness in complex aquatic environments.

How do people communicate when they are underwater? Marine environments present a unique set of challenges that render several technologies that were developed for land applications completely useless. Communicating using sound, or at least as people use sound to communicate, is one of them. Michael Fulton tackles this challenge with his presentation at ICRA 2022 by using body language to communicate with an AUV underwater. His poster can be viewed here.