Safety at Stake: How Individuals Task Prioritization Influences Human–Drone Proxemics
Robin Bretin, Emily S. Cross, Mohamed A. Khamis · ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction · 2025
Autonomous drones are expected to become prevalent in populated environments such as warehouses, factories, and homes, where individuals and drones will coexist while independently performing tasks. However, the dynamics of this shared autonomy, particularly the spatial behaviors (proxemics) that arise in these settings, remain underexplored in the Human–Drone Interaction (HDI) field. Understanding how task-driven behaviors influence navigation around drones is critical for ensuring their seamless integration into such environments. This study investigates how individuals’ prioritization of task completion interacts with proxemic behaviors, potentially overriding defensive mechanisms like maintaining safety distances. We conducted a study with 26 participants in a fully immersive virtual environment where both participants and a drone were tasked with moving objects. Using a 2 × 2 within-subject design, we examined proxemics in relaxed and competitive scenarios, with the drone carrying either normal or explosive boxes (triggering explosions on contact). Results revealed a significant interaction between scenario type and the drone’s danger level: in relaxed scenarios, participants deviated more from the shortest path when the drone carried explosive boxes. However, stronger task-oriented behavior correlated with closer approaches to the drone, regardless of danger. These findings highlight the dominance of goal-oriented behavior in shaping Human–Drone Proxemics and its implications for drone deployment in high-performance environments.