Co-existing with drones: a virtual exploration of proxemic behaviours and users’ insights on social drones

Bretin, R. , Cross, E. and Khamis, M. (2024) Co-existing with drones: a virtual exploration of proxemic behaviours and users’ insights on social drones. International Journal of Social Robotics, 16(3), pp. 547-567. (doi: 10.1007/s12369-024-01111-7)

Abstract

Numerous studies have investigated proxemics in the context of human–robot interactions, but little is known about whether these insights can be applied to human–drone interactions (HDI). As drones become more common in social settings, it is crucial to ensure they navigate in a socially acceptable and human-friendly way. Understanding how individuals position themselves around drones is vital to promote user well-being and drones’ social acceptance. However, real-world constraints and risks associated with drones flying in close proximity to participants have limited research in this field. Virtual reality is a promising alternative for investigating HDI, as prior research suggests. This paper presents a proxemic user study (N = 45) in virtual reality, examining how drone height and framing influence participants’ proxemic preferences. The study also explores participants’ perceptions of social drones and their vision for the future of flying robots. Our findings show that drone height significantly impacts participants’ preferred interpersonal distance, while framing had no significant effect. Thoughts on how participants envision social drones (e.g., interaction, design, applications) reveal interpersonal differences but also shows overall consistency over time. While the study demonstrates the value of using virtual reality for HDI experiments, further research is necessary to determine the generalizability of our findings to real-world HDI scenarios.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Socially Intelligent Artificial Agents, Grant Number EP/S02266X/1.
• Keywords: Proxemic, human-drone interaction, social drone, framing, virtual reality.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bretin, Robin and Khamis, Dr Mohamed and Cross, Professor Emily
• Authors: Bretin, R., Cross, E., and Khamis, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience; College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: International Journal of Social Robotics
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 1875-4791
• ISSN (Online): 1875-4805
• Published Online: 06 March 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2024
• First Published: First published in International Journal of Social Robotics 16(3):547-567
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
303764		EPSRC CDT - Socially Intelligent Artificial Agents	Alessandro Vinciarelli	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/S02266X/1	Computing Science