Systems and methods for controlling tool with articulatable distal portion

A system comprising:

• a medical tool including a shaft having proximal and distal ends and an articulatable distal portion coupled to the distal end of the shaft;
• a processing unit including one or more processors, the processing unit configured to:
• determine a first target in a medical environment, wherein the articulatable distal portion is directed toward the first target;
• determine a first motion of at least a portion of the shaft;
• based on the determined first motion, control a pose of the articulatable distal portion so that the articulatable distal portion remains directed toward the first target;
• in response to a request for transition to a different view direction, control the pose of the articulatable distal portion to direct the articulatable distal portion toward a second target in the medical environment,
• wherein orientations of images captured by an imaging device of the articulatable distal portion during the transition are maintained to be the same regarding a reference including a reference plane or a reference direction by controlling the pose of the articulatable distal portion, and
• wherein a left-to-right order of features in the images is aligned with a first left-to-right reference direction of the reference;
• wherein the first left-to-right reference direction corresponds to a perspective of a first operator who is not controlling the shaft, and
• wherein the first left-to-right reference direction is different from a second left-to-right reference direction corresponding to a second operator who is controlling the shaft.