Towards Natural Human-Drone Interaction

The increasing use of small-size drones is both exciting and frightening. The success and acceptability of these automated devices will depend on how well they will be able to communicate with users and passersby alike. How will people be able to make sense of a drone’s intentions and abilities? How will drones respond to people in complex situations? 

In this lecture, I will present how we can leverage techniques at the intersection between technology and design to build novel interaction techniques for collocated human-drone interaction. I will, in particular, discuss several methodologies that were used successfully to understand user’s expectations and present how these new flying technologies re-invent our understanding of ubiquitous and mobile computing.