Head tilting for interaction in mobile contexts

Developing interfaces for mobile situations requires that devices are useable on the move. Here, we explore head tilting as an input technique to allow a user to interact with a mobile device ‘hands free’. A Fitts’ Law style evaluation is described where a user acquires targets, moving the cursor by head tilt. We explored position and velocity control cursor mechanisms in both static and mobile situations to see which provided the best level of performance. Results show that participants could successfully acquire targets using head tilting. Position control was shown to be significantly faster and more accurate in a static context, but exhibited significantly poorer accuracy and longer target acquisition times when the user was on the move. We further demonstrate how analysis of user’s gait shows consistent targeting biases at different stages in the gait cycle. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2 [User Interfaces]: Input devices and strategies General Terms Human Factor...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: MHCI
• Authors: Andrew Crossan, Mark McGill, Stephen A. Brewster, Roderick Murray-Smith
• Keywords: Human Computer Interaction, MHCI 2009, Mobile Device ‘hands, Mobile Situations, User Acquires Targets