Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Web and mobile-based human machine interfaces (HMIs) are increasingly important for intuitive, real time control of assistive robotic systems, improving accessibility, portability, and user experience. This manuscript presents a web-based HMI framework for real-time control of rehabilitation robotic systems. We detail the system architecture, HMI design (graphical interface, server–client communication, and data pathways), and deployment considerations, and provide comprehensive supplementary materials for replication. To demonstrate usability, we implement the HMI for real-time control of an ankle-foot prosthesis (AFP) and show operation via a touchscreen tablet and an augmented-reality device in benchtop and walking tests. We further illustrate user-oriented benefits in a laboratory scale study comparing a touch-enabled, remotely accessible HMI, a desktop (non-touch, local) HMI, and a non-HMI interface. The HMI conditions yielded faster, more accurate task performance and improved usability and workload measures. Collectively, these results establish a reproducible, web-based HMI framework for real-time rehabilitation robotics applications.</p>