  The operation of telerobotic systems can be a challenging task, requiring
intuitive and efficient interfaces to enable inexperienced users to attain a
high level of proficiency. Body-Machine Interfaces (BoMI) represent a promising
alternative to standard control devices, such as joysticks, because they
leverage intuitive body motion and gestures. It has been shown that the use of
Virtual Reality (VR) and first-person view perspectives can increase the user's
sense of presence in avatars. However, it is unclear if these beneficial
effects occur also in the teleoperation of non-anthropomorphic robots that
display motion patterns different from those of humans. Here we describe
experimental results on teleoperation of a non-anthropomorphic drone showing
that VR correlates with a higher sense of spatial presence, whereas viewpoints
moving coherently with the robot are associated with a higher sense of
embodiment. Furthermore, the experimental results show that spontaneous body
motion patterns are affected by VR and viewpoint conditions in terms of
variability, amplitude, and robot correlates, suggesting that the design of
BoMIs for drone teleoperation must take into account the use of Virtual Reality
and the choice of the viewpoint.
