See it, hear it, feel it: an explorative virtual reality study to identify factors determining public acceptance of drones in different city environments

Abstract This paper reports an explorative approach to research factors influencing how people experience urban drone traffic. The study used a virtual reality environment to show people what future drone traffic could look like. A total of ten people took part in the survey. They experienced different types of drones with varying purposes in four urban areas: an industrial area, a city center, a residential area, and a park. Various types of data were collected in the study, focusing on qualitative data from interviews. The goal was to collect a rich and comprehensive data set that thoroughly understands acceptance factors related to drones, recommendations on how future research scenarios in high-fidelity simulation should be designed, and which factors should be included or need more investigation. The findings reveal that drone acceptance is determined by a complex interaction of numerous factors, which need more investigation and validation in future research.