Using cursor prediction to smooth telepointer jitter

Telepointers are an important type of embodiment in real-time distributed groupware. Telepointers can increase the presence of remote participants and can provide considerable awareness information about people’s locations and activities. However, the motion of a telepointer is often disrupted by network jitter. Although some strategies exist for dealing with jitter, none of these techniques are able to restore the immediacy and smoothness of a real cursor. In this paper we investigate the use of prediction – commonly used in networked simulations and games – to reduce the effects of jitter on telepointer motion. To determine whether prediction can be effective for improving telepointers, we carried out two experiments that tested the effects of different prediction schemes (some real and some artificial) on people’s ability to interpret telepointer gestures. These studies show that although cursor prediction is still a difficult problem, there are both potential performance i...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: GROUP
• Authors: Carl Gutwin, Jeff Dyck, Jennifer Burkitt
• Keywords: GROUP 2003, Network Jitter, Prediction, Real-time Distributed Groupware