A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface
Despite the importance of usability in human-machine interaction (HMI), most commonly used devices are not usable by all potential users. In particular, users with low or null technological experience, or with special needs, require carefully designed systems and easy-to-use interfaces supporting re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurorobotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2022.898859/full |
| _version_ | 1811181905471602688 |
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| author | Marina Di Vincenzo Francesco Palini Maria De Marsico Anna M. Borghi Anna M. Borghi Gianluca Baldassarre Gianluca Baldassarre |
| author_facet | Marina Di Vincenzo Francesco Palini Maria De Marsico Anna M. Borghi Anna M. Borghi Gianluca Baldassarre Gianluca Baldassarre |
| author_sort | Marina Di Vincenzo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the importance of usability in human-machine interaction (HMI), most commonly used devices are not usable by all potential users. In particular, users with low or null technological experience, or with special needs, require carefully designed systems and easy-to-use interfaces supporting recognition over recall. To this purpose, Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) represent an effective strategy as the user's learning is facilitated by features of the interface that mimic the human “natural” sensorimotor embodied interactions with the environment. This paper compares the usability of a new NUI (based on an eye-tracker and hand gesture recognition) with a traditional interface (keyboard) for the distal control of a simulated drone flying in a virtual environment. The whole interface relies on “dAIsy”, a new software allowing the flexible use of different input devices and the control of different robotic platforms. The 59 users involved in the study were required to complete two tasks with each interface, while their performance was recorded: (a) exploration: detecting trees embedded in an urban environment; (b) accuracy: guiding the drone as accurately and fast as possible along a predefined track. Then they were administered questionnaires regarding the user's background, the perceived embodiment of the device, and the perceived quality of the virtual experience while either using the NUI or the traditional interface. The results appear controversial and call for further investigation: (a) contrary to our hypothesis, the specific NUI used led to lower performance than the traditional interface; (b) however, the NUI was evaluated as more natural and embodied. The final part of the paper discusses the possible causes underlying these results that suggest possible future improvements of the NUI. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:24:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9ad8414364f14cf89b10a135d8f2dc4c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5218 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:24:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurorobotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-9ad8414364f14cf89b10a135d8f2dc4c2022-12-22T04:32:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurorobotics1662-52182022-10-011610.3389/fnbot.2022.898859898859A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional InterfaceMarina Di Vincenzo0Francesco Palini1Maria De Marsico2Anna M. Borghi3Anna M. Borghi4Gianluca Baldassarre5Gianluca Baldassarre6AS-AI - Advanced School of AI, Rome, ItalyAS-AI - Advanced School of AI, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Computer Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyInstitute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, ItalyInstitute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, ItalyAI2Life Srl Innovative Startup, Spin-Off of ISTC-CNR, Rome, ItalyDespite the importance of usability in human-machine interaction (HMI), most commonly used devices are not usable by all potential users. In particular, users with low or null technological experience, or with special needs, require carefully designed systems and easy-to-use interfaces supporting recognition over recall. To this purpose, Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) represent an effective strategy as the user's learning is facilitated by features of the interface that mimic the human “natural” sensorimotor embodied interactions with the environment. This paper compares the usability of a new NUI (based on an eye-tracker and hand gesture recognition) with a traditional interface (keyboard) for the distal control of a simulated drone flying in a virtual environment. The whole interface relies on “dAIsy”, a new software allowing the flexible use of different input devices and the control of different robotic platforms. The 59 users involved in the study were required to complete two tasks with each interface, while their performance was recorded: (a) exploration: detecting trees embedded in an urban environment; (b) accuracy: guiding the drone as accurately and fast as possible along a predefined track. Then they were administered questionnaires regarding the user's background, the perceived embodiment of the device, and the perceived quality of the virtual experience while either using the NUI or the traditional interface. The results appear controversial and call for further investigation: (a) contrary to our hypothesis, the specific NUI used led to lower performance than the traditional interface; (b) however, the NUI was evaluated as more natural and embodied. The final part of the paper discusses the possible causes underlying these results that suggest possible future improvements of the NUI.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2022.898859/fullhuman-drone interfacehuman-machine interfaceflexible software dAIsyhuman performanceexploration and accuracy tasksembodiment and virtual experience questionnaires |
| spellingShingle | Marina Di Vincenzo Francesco Palini Maria De Marsico Anna M. Borghi Anna M. Borghi Gianluca Baldassarre Gianluca Baldassarre A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface Frontiers in Neurorobotics human-drone interface human-machine interface flexible software dAIsy human performance exploration and accuracy tasks embodiment and virtual experience questionnaires |
| title | A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface |
| title_full | A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface |
| title_fullStr | A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface |
| title_short | A Natural Human-Drone Embodied Interface: Empirical Comparison With a Traditional Interface |
| title_sort | natural human drone embodied interface empirical comparison with a traditional interface |
| topic | human-drone interface human-machine interface flexible software dAIsy human performance exploration and accuracy tasks embodiment and virtual experience questionnaires |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2022.898859/full |
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