This special issue bridges a gap between the worlds of manually controlled human machine systems and so called autonomous systems, where the machine is in control alone. In contrast to autonomous systems, with Shared Control and its extension Cooperative Control both the human(s) and the machine(s) are involved in the control. This can be either simultaneously and/or alternating in time, and with different proportions of share. Shared and cooperative control paradigms have already been developed in parallel in many domains, e.g. aviation, in ground vehicles and robotics, in industry, crisis management and the military. In addition to the applied research and development that has taken place, an increasing part of the community has worked on the theory and concepts of human machine cooperation with its instantiations in shared and cooperative control. With increasing capabilities and connectivity of machines, e.g. in automated driving and flight, or in Industry 4.0, the challenge and chance of sharing and cooperating on guidance and control will become even more important.