Comparative Experiments on Operability in an Experiential Drone Maneuvering Support System Using VR Goggle

Abstract

In this study, we aim to construct an experiential drone maneuvering support system in which the drone is controlled by intuitive human motions while the drone’s onboard camera images are projected on a VR space. We propose a general controller operation and three types of operation methods, and compare them with each other. The effectiveness of the proposed system is also verified through comparison experiments between the third-person viewpoint, in which the drone is operated from an objective viewpoint, and the first-person viewpoint, in which the drone is operated from the viewpoint of drone’s onboard camera image, as if the user were actually on the drone. The proposed intuitive control methods are hand gesture control, finger gesture control, and gaze control by tracking pupil coordinates.