Drone were me: Flying drone as avatar by aligned stereo view and head pose

Abstract

In this paper, we present a natural interface between a drone, i.e., a miniature aerial vehicle (MAV), and a human, in which a stereo-vision-MAV is flied via a HMD (Head Mounted Display) with inertial sensors. A stereo camera is mounted on a MAV and the stereo images are transmitted to a remote PC. Then, a user controls the motion of the MAV by his/her head pose, which is measured from the inertial sensor of the HMD, while looking at the stereo images via the HMD as if the MAV is an avatar of the user. Thanks to a stereo-vision camera, it makes it possible that not only a user can sense the distance information between the MAV and obstacles from the HMD, but also a MAV can avoid collisions using the measured 3D information even if human error occurs during the operation.