IGUANA: Immersive Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Consumer UAV

TL;DR

IGUANA introduces a mixed-reality UAV control framework comprising a 3D map for high-level waypoint planning, a virtual-ball low-level control metaphor, and a spatial overlay for continued situational awareness. A within-subject user study contrasts IGUANA with a conventional remote controller, showing the 3D map interface reduces workload and is perceived as more useful, while the virtual-ball control benefits from practice and may need tactile feedback. The results support the potential of MR-based interfaces to simplify UAV operation and enhance awareness, while outlining improvements such as haptic feedback, scaling for overlays, and refined marker controls for broader adoption.

Abstract

As the markets for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and mixed reality (MR) headsets continue to grow, recent research has increasingly explored their integration, which enables more intuitive, immersive, and situationally aware control systems. We present IGUANA, an MR-based immersive guidance, navigation, and control system for consumer UAVs. IGUANA introduces three key elements beyond conventional control interfaces: (1) a 3D terrain map interface with draggable waypoint markers and live camera preview for high-level control, (2) a novel spatial control metaphor that uses a virtual ball as a physical analogy for low-level control, and (3) a spatial overlay that helps track the UAV when it is not visible with the naked eye or visual line of sight is interrupted. We conducted a user study to evaluate our design, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and found that (1) the 3D map interface is intuitive and easy to use, relieving users from manual control and suggesting improved accuracy and consistency with lower perceived workload relative to conventional dual-stick controller, (2) the virtual ball interface is intuitive but limited by the lack of physical feedback, and (3) the spatial overlay is very useful in enhancing the users' situational awareness.

Figures (13)

• Figure 1: 3D map interface. (A) Pinch to select a marker. (B) Release to place the marker. (C) Alternatively, confirm placement with a thumbs-up gesture. (D) Overview with user marker (red), UAV (blue), waypoint and virtual camera markers (yellow), and the planned trajectory (dashed line). (E) Spatial overlay of waypoints and the planned trajectory.
• Figure 2: (A) UAV local coordinate system. (B) Virtual ball interface aligned to the world coordinate system; red sphere controls UAV flight direction and speed; blue sphere controls UAV yaw and camera pitch. (C) Top view and (D) front view of the virtual ball interface.
• Figure 3: (A) Push on the virtual ball diagonally toward the user's forward upper right. Resulting motion in (B) drone-centric and (C) user-centric control modes.
• Figure 4: Spatial overlay with horizontal and vertical leading lines (magenta), UAV frame (purple), and telemetry (blue).
• Figure 5: IGUANA system architecture.