Incorporating Drone Into Mixed Reality for Enhanced Remote Collaboration: A User Study on Inspection Task

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Robotics
• Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Background:

• Remote collaboration systems often limit users to fixed viewpoints, hindering spatial awareness and effectiveness.
• Existing systems struggle to provide remote users with independent navigation and a sense of presence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a Mixed Reality (MR) remote collaboration system enhanced with a telepresence drone.
• To overcome viewpoint limitations and improve spatial awareness and collaboration efficiency in remote settings.

Main Methods:

• Developed an MR system where a remote user in VR controls a drone for independent navigation and guides a local user with an AR headset.
• Integrated drone-based telepresence, 3D environment reconstruction, and avatar representation.
• Conducted a user study comparing the drone-enhanced MR system with 2D and 360-degree video MR systems during inspection tasks.

Main Results:

• The drone-enhanced MR system significantly improved collaboration efficiency compared to 2D and 360-degree video systems.
• Users reported enhanced social and spatial presence with the drone-enhanced system.
• Remote users experienced a higher perceived workload.

Conclusions:

• Independent spatial navigation via telepresence drones offers significant benefits for remote collaboration efficiency and presence.
• Future drone-enhanced MR systems should consider workload mitigation strategies.
• The study provides valuable insights for designing advanced remote collaboration tools.