A Suitability Evaluation of Controlling 3D Map Viewpoint by Gamepad Orientation for Remote Navigation

The presence of 3-D maps of remote environments offers realistic visualization of both front and surrounding views. The surrounding view allows operators to observe different side views by controlling their viewpoint. Viewpoint control can be achieved by using the orientation of the operators' input device, which is mostly akin to gamepad controller. This kind of method assumes that binding the gamepad orientation to the 3-D map could benefit the operators during tasks; therefore, assessing operators' performance is required to validate this assumption. This paper assessed the effect of using gamepad orientation for controlling 3-D map viewpoint during remote navigation. The evaluation was conducted by comparing a tethered viewpoint against a controllable viewpoint within a simulated telerobot situation. The evaluation resulted in a contradictive state, where participants' positive opinions and preferences were against their actual workloads (d = 0.299, 95% CI [-0.200, 0.792]). The contradiction indicated the presence of naïve realism on using gamepad orientation for rapidly controlling viewpoint of 3-D map views. Meanwhile, shifts in participants' navigation behavior were also observed.