MIT researchers reported on Aug. 20, 2026, in the Journal of Computing and Civil Engineering a prototype training and control platform for excavator operators. The device replaces joysticks with a miniature excavator arm and bucket that trainees grasp and move with their own arm and hand, while an excavator simulation across six screens mirrors the motions. The team calls the system the World-Space Interface.

In experiments, volunteers trained one hour a day for seven days on simulated tasks across 15 virtual environments, using both the new interface and a joystick-based simulator. The team reported that novices using the joystick simulator remained consistently worse than experts, though they improved, while novices using the new interface performed as well as experts from the start. The work involved collaborators from Sumitomo Heavy Industries, which partly supported the research.

According to the report, the researchers are now working to add haptic feedback to the physical arm and envision future uses in excavator cabs or for remote operation. These are described as plans and possibilities, not demonstrated field deployments.