Utilising adaptive interface techniques in the design of systems introduces certain risks. An adaptive interface is not static, but will actively adapt to the perceived needs of the user. Unless carefully designed, these changes may lead to an unpredictable, obscure and uncontrollable interface. Therefore the design of adaptive interfaces must ensure that users can inspect the adaptivity mechanisms, and control their results. One way to do this is to rely on the user's understanding of the application and the domain, and relate the adaptivity mechanisms to domainspecific concepts. We present an example of an adaptive hypertext help system POP, which is being built according to these principles, and discuss the design considerations and empirical findings that lead to this design.

This paper describes a model for a complex human-machine system where a human operator controls a remote robot through the mediation of a distributed virtual environment with a language interface. The system combines speechcontrolled graphical immersiveenvironments with the live video from a robot working in a real environment. The worlds are synchronized and updated based on operator selections, commands and robot actions. This system allows the user to haveapowerful tool with a high level of abstraction to create and control autonomous robots, thus making possible the realization of single and possibly multiple real-world autonomous robot applications.