Researchers at Jeonbuk National University in the Republic of Korea have developed a wearable interface for drone control. The system combines hand gestures and vibrations via a belt to communicate drone commands and positions without continuous visual monitoring.
The research team was led by Professor Kee-Ho Yu, Department of Aerospace Engineering, along with researcher Myeong-Ho Shin and Dr. Giancarlo Eder Guerra Padilla. The team paired a sensor worn on the back of the hand with a belt around the waist containing 36 vibration motors. The hand sensor lets the user issue commands through familiar movements, while the waist-worn device communicates spatial information through touch. 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. According to the university, gesture recognition reached 97.58 percent accuracy, while users identified three-dimensional position through touch with 82.75 percent accuracy.
The tests found tactile-only control feasible but slower than visual operation, highlighting both the promise and limitations of non-visual drone interaction for future drone applications. Direction was recognised more reliably than distance, which was the most confusing cue.
The team tested the integrated interface with a real drone. “In point-to-point trials, one novice participant used the gesture controller with either visual or tactile-only feedback,” the university said. “Visual operation reached the target in all nine trials, averaging 31.4 seconds. Tactile-only operation succeeded in eight of nine trials and took an average of 45.1 seconds. In a separate task, the participant returned the drone to its target zone after all eight boundary exits while vision and hearing were blocked.”
The research team says larger studies in varied outdoor conditions are needed, alongside improvements to distance cues, response speed, comfort and safety, before practical deployment can be assessed.
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Image: Jeonbuk National University