Operating a drone manually requires pilots to watch a screen while coordinating controls. This divides attention between the aircraft and its surroundings. Researchers are exploring ways to make drone operation more intuitive and less dependent on continuous visual monitoring. A wearable interface developed at Jeonbuk National University combines hand gestures for sending commands with abdominal vibrations that indicate the drone\u2019s position relative to the user.<\/p>\n
The research team was led by professor Kee-Ho Yu of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Jeonbuk National University, Republic of Korea, along with researcher Myeong-Ho Shin and Dr. Giancarlo Eder Guerra Padilla from the same institute. The team paired a sensor worn on the back of the hand with a belt containing 36 vibration motors. A computer interprets 12 gestures as drone commands. Drone telemetry is translated into vibration patterns indicating direction, relative height and distance. The system was assessed through gesture-recognition tests, simulated flying, an indoor tactile-perception study and two real-drone tasks.<\/p>\n