=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2617/paper3
|storemode=property
|title=ProxyDrone: Autonomous Drone Landing on the Human Body
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2617/paper3.pdf
|volume=Vol-2617
|authors=Jonas Auda,Martin Weigel,Jessica Cauchard,Stefan Schneegass
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/chi/AudaWCS20
}}
==ProxyDrone: Autonomous Drone Landing on the Human Body==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2617/paper3.pdf
ProxyDrone: Autonomous Drone
Landing on the Human Body
Jonas Auda Jessica Cauchard Abstract
paluno Ben-Gurion University Launching drones often requires several steps that the op-
University of Duisburg-Essen of the Negev erator needs to complete. Yet, in many scenarios, such as
jonas.auda@uni-due.de jcauchard@bgu.ac.il
search and rescue, saving time is crucial. For instance, res-
cue personnel might be occupied with safety-critical tasks,
while needing to operate drones to get an overview of the
environment. We propose the concept of a drone that is
located on the human body (e.g., on the back). The drone
can take-off and land without human intervention. We plan
Martin Weigel Stefan Schneegass to build a working prototype and investigate drone maneu-
Honda Research Institute paluno vers that are suitable for both taking off and landing opera-
Europe, Offenbach, Germany University of Duisburg-Essen tions on the human body. We will further investigate the op-
martin.weigel@honda-ri.de stefan.schneegass@uni-due.de erator’s perception and extract task-related design factors.
This work will help derive guidelines for implicit human-
drone interaction at close proximity.
Author Keywords
Human-Drone Interaction; On-Body; Drones.
CCS Concepts
•Human-centered computing → Haptic devices; Human
This paper is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International computer interaction (HCI); Haptic devices;
(CC-BY 4.0) license. Authors reserve their rights to disseminate the work on their
personal and corporate Web sites with the appropriate attribution.
Interdisciplinary Workshop on Human-Drone Interaction (iHDI 2020) Introduction
CHI ’20 Extended Abstracts, 26 April 2020, Honolulu, HI, US Drones will likely become ubiquitous companions for hu-
© Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License.
mans in the near future. They can be used for a range of
applications, such as video production and photography, to
guide visually impaired people [4], support artistic perfor- Such a drone requires two major considerations: 1. the
mances [11], body movement [15, 16] or sports education technical capability for the drone to attach and detach it-
[24], and even support search and rescue missions [18]. self to the human body, and 2. the user’s acceptability of
We expect that this growing range of applications will in- close body interaction. We indeed envision that the design
crease interactions between drones and humans [12]. In of the drone and its position with regards to the person will
addition, drones are now being used as flying interfaces [6, affect its acceptability. Prior work highlighted many design
13] and can serve as haptic proxies to enhance Virtual Re- factors that influence the perception of a drone user [23,
ality (VR) experiences [2, 14]. Different aspects of human- 5], including that current safety mechanisms are perceived
drone interaction were investigated by previous research, negatively in terms of trust.
such as input using drones [3, 7], expressive drone flight
behavior [9] and orchestration of drones [17]. As such, we plan to prototype different form factors and
technical solutions suited for taking-off and landing-on the
The use-cases for drones are versatile, yet we find that the human body. That includes the design and development
interaction is often centered around the human body. That of bespoke drones with diverse mechanisms (e.g., elec-
topic was exposed in prior work designing a drone user tric magnets, hooks, and textile solutions), for the drone to
interface projected around the user’s body [8]. However, we attach itself to its operator. We then propose to develop a
note that the close proximity of the drone to the user is still framework for close human-drone interaction that will en-
not yet investigated in the literature. In prior robotics work, able us to research and identify suitable flight behavior and
researchers had investigated the use of robots on a user’s design factors to accomplish automated land and take-off
body [10], which inspired our work. procedures on the human body.
We find examples of body-worn drones like the Nixie which Design Space of Body Worn Drones
is used for photography [1]. This wrist-worn drone can be In the following, we propose a design space for body-worn
used on-demand to take selfies of its operator. Similar to drones and discuss each of the identified dimension.
the Nixie drone, we propose to develop a drone that can
land-on and take-off from the human body. Being in close Body Location
proximity to the user opens new doors to human drone We want to investigate which parts of the body are suitable
interaction through multiple modalities, from vibrations to to serve as a spot for drones to land and take-off. This can
pulling or bumping into the user. influence the design and size of the drone, as well as its
flight behavior (i.e., take-off and landing procedures). An
To enable this close interaction, we explore how a drone important question to be considered, is how the user per-
can land-on and take-off from a person’s body. We envision ceives the drone while it is approaching various body parts.
several scenarios that would benefit from such functionality. We consider the following body locations:
For example, drone operators can seamlessly start and
stop operating a drone that might be attached to the back of Back. The back might offer plenty of space for a drone to
the operator. In such a situation, rescue personnel can use land. Possible larger drones might be deployed on the back
drones while being engaged in safety-critical tasks. of a user. Further, functional garments might provide an-
choring on the back. The back might be suitable for drones ware solutions, from electric magnets to velcro tape. Spe-
that take-off and land while the operator is engaged in a cially designed clothing might provide docking capabilities
task. We expect that the posture of the user will present for easier landing and take-off, although we prefer ad-hoc
some importance. For example, when the drone is hang- solutions that do not require the user to wear specific equip-
ing vertically from the back (e.g., like a fly on a wall), it must ment. We will investigate how a drone can rest on a per-
carry out a specific maneuver to stabilize itself in the air son’s body, while not falling off while he/she is moving. We
when it takes off. Such a procedure must be done safely to propose that the drone may use its own force to stabilize
protect the user. itself on the human body.
Shoulder. Like a parrot, a drone could rest on the shoulder Level of Automation
of a user. Smaller, light-weighted drones might be suitable Triggering take-off and landing sequences can be done
in this case. Safety means and specific maneuvers should in various ways. It can be automated with no hands used
be investigated due to the proximity to the user’s face. or triggered explicitly by the user (e.g., the drone can be
grabbed and put into place). The drone might detect ges-
Head. Drones that are deployed on the head might have tures, speech commands, or context to initiate take-off and
a special design. The proximity to the face will influence landing. It will therefore be important to communicate the
both design and maneuvering operations. Drones in close intent of the drone to the user and vice versa. If a drone
proximity to the head require a small-size and light-weight approaches the user to land, the user should understand
design, so that the drone does not get in the way of the the next steps of the drone’s landing process. This can
human body sensory systems. Helmets might serve as a be achieved by wearing smart glasses that display the
ramp for the drone to land and take off. flight plan or even Augmented Reality (AR) to visualize the
planned trajectory of the drone. We expect that lights might
Arm. Like a falcon a drone could land on the arm [19, 20].
be used to communicate intent, [22] as planes do. Also,
The falcon metaphor implies certain behaviors, such as fly-
the user might intervene with an autonomous operating
ing to a location and coming back to the user. We imagine
drone. Therefore, the drone should provide an intervention
the user could hold up their arm to indicate to the drone that
interface [21]. Implicit and explicit interactions might vary
it can take-off or land. On the one hand, triggering such in-
depending on the use case. However, detected commands
teractions might become intuitive to the user and require
triggered by false positives can lead to dangerous situa-
little cognitive load. On the other hand, take-off and landing
tions. In that case, it is very important to use appropriate
sequences might be difficult if the user’s hands are busy
context aware controls and triggering mechanisms that can
(e.g., carrying a device or performing a task). Small and
adapt to the situation of the operator (e.g., occupied hands).
medium-sized drones might be suitable for this body part.
Drone Shape and Function
Body Adhesion Method
The size of a drone will most likely determine its use cases.
Since the drone should remain on the human body after
A small drone with a camera can be used for scouting and
landing, we will investigate materials and techniques to at-
overview, while a larger drone can enable physical interac-
tach drones to the body. We are considering different hard-
tion with the user and other objects (e.g., carrying a pay- Personal Assistant
load). These factors will influence the drone design and Close proximity to the user enables more intimate relation-
determine the interaction space. ships between drones and humans. We expect such drones
will be understood like a pet sitting on its owner’s shoul-
Application Scenarios der, rather than as a piece of technology. As such, we envi-
We outline three different application scenarios in which we sion that the drone could become a personal assistant. The
envision close-to-body drones to be applicable. drone can use the operator’s body as a base station (e.g.,
when charging) and take-off to perform off-body tasks, such
Search and Rescue as taking a photo (as in [1]), navigating the user to a des-
Rescue personnel can benefit from drones that take-off tination, and transporting small objects. This exceeds the
automatically while being engaged in primary tasks. The capabilities of today’s body-worn robots [10].
drone could be used as a scout for planning a mission,
while critical tasks can be fulfilled without the interruption, Research Plan
that is currently required, to start operating the drone. For We plan the following steps to build and evaluate our pro-
example, in firefighting missions, the firefighters have to totype and to extract guidelines for close proximity human-
pay attention to their environment and protect their own life drone interaction. In the initial step, we will gather litera-
while trying to rescue survivors. A drone could be of great ture on drones and on-body interaction to derive a suitable
help to sense the surrounding environment, but should concept. Afterwards, we will implement the system (i.e.,
however do so without interrupting the firefighters or adding drone and the control application), so that the drone should
to their cognitive load. be directed towards its target automatically. Once being
in proximity to the target, it should initiate a suitable land-
On-demand 3rd Eye
ing maneuver and attach itself to a person. Once attached,
Climbers might need an overview of their surroundings
the drone should be able to identify opportune moments to
while being suspended at great heights. For example, they
take-off based on its role. After the implementation phase,
may want to check for changing weather conditions or map
we evaluate our prototype in a user study and derive guide-
out their climbing path. Getting a drone to take off from
lines from the study results.
one’s hand or from the ground while climbing might be com-
plicated, if not dangerous, or impossible. We propose that a
Conclusion
drone, attached to the back of a climber, could take-off and
We proposed to investigate close proximity drones that can
gather information before landing back on its operator. The
land and take-off from the human body. First, we identified
action of take-off or landing could be done without requiring
requirements to span an initial design space. We then dis-
the use of the climbers hands. In addition, the drone could
cussed various aspects that must be considered for body-
directly support the climber, such as by lifting and secur-
worn drones, including body location, level of automation,
ing a carabiner. Such scenarios would increase the safety
drone shape and functionality. Finally, we introduced appli-
of the climber, especially when the climber is exhausted or
cation scenarios and presented a research plan.
can not reach the next spot to secure him/herself.
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