Abracadabra: wireless, high-precision, and unpowered finger input for very small mobile devices

We present Abracadabra, a magnetically driven input technique that offers users wireless, unpowered, high fidelity finger input for mobile devices with very small screens. By extending the input area to many times the size of the device’s screen, our approach is able to offer a high C-D gain, enabling fine motor control. Additionally, screen occlusion can be reduced by moving interaction off of the display and into unused space around the device. We discuss several example applications as a proof of concept. Finally, results from our user study indicate radial targets as small as 16º can achieve greater than 92% selection accuracy, outperforming comparable radial, touch-based finger input. ACM Classification: H.5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User Interfaces - Input Devices, GUIs. General terms: Human Factors

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: UIST
• Authors: Chris Harrison, Scott E. Hudson
• Keywords: Fidelity Finger Input, Finger Input, Input Technique, Software Engineering, UIST 2009