Pointing is the task of tracking a target with a pointer and confirming the target selection through a click action when the pointer is positioned within the target. Little is known about the mechanism by which users plan and execute the click action in the middle of the target tracking process. The Intermittent Click Planning model proposed in this study describes the process by which users plan and execute optimal click actions, from which the model predicts the pointing error rates. In two studies in which users pointed to a stationary target and a moving target, the model proved to accurately predict the pointing error rates (R2 = 0.992 and 0.985, respectively). The model has also successfully identified differences in cognitive characteristics among first-person shooter game players.
Entering commands on touchscreens can be noisy, but existing interfaces commonly adopt deterministic principles for deciding targets and often result in errors. Building on prior research of using Bayes' theorem to handle uncertainty in input, this paper formalized Bayes' theorem as a generic guiding principle for deciding targets in command input (referred to as "BayesianCommand"), developed three models for estimating prior and likelihood probabilities, and carried out experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of this formalization. More specifically, we applied BayesianCommand to improve the input accuracy of (1) point-and-click and (2) word-gesture command input. Our evaluation showed that applying BayesianCommand reduced errors compared to using deterministic principles (by over 26.9% for point-and-click and by 39.9% for word-gesture command input) or applying the principle partially (by over 28.0% and 24.5%).
Designing a push-button with desired sensation and performance is challenging because the mechanical construction must have the right response characteristics. Physical simulation of a button's force-displacement (FD) response has been studied to facilitate prototyping; however, the simulations' scope and realism have been limited. In this paper, we extend FD modeling to include vibration (V) and velocity-dependence characteristics (V). The resulting FDVV models better capture tactility characteristics of buttons, including snap. They increase the range of simulated buttons and the perceived realism relative to FD models. The paper also demonstrates methods for obtaining these models, editing them, and simulating accordingly. This end-to-end approach enables the analysis, prototyping, and optimization of buttons, and supports exploring designs that would be hard to implement mechanically.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376262
A well-designed control-to-display gain function can improve pointing performance with indirect pointing devices like trackpads. However, the design of gain functions is challenging and mostly based on trial and error. AutoGain is a novel method to individualize a gain function for indirect pointing devices in contexts where cursor trajectories can be tracked. It gradually improves pointing efficiency by using a novel submovement-level tracking+optimization technique that minimizes aiming error (undershooting/overshooting) for each submovement. We first show that AutoGain can produce, from scratch, gain functions with performance comparable to commercial designs, in less than a half-hour of active use. Second, we demonstrate AutoGain's applicability to emerging input devices (here, a Leap Motion controller) with no reference gain functions. Third, a one-month longitudinal study of normal computer use with AutoGain showed performance improvements from participants' default functions.
We present GPkit, a Python toolkit for Geometric and Signomial Programming that prioritizes explainability and incremental complexity. GPkit was designed through an ethnographic approach in the firms, classrooms, and research labs where it became part of the fabric of daily engineering work. Organizations have approached GPkit both in ways which centralize and in ways which distribute design work, usecases which emerged from and inspired new toolkit features. This two-way flow between mathematical structure and practitioner knowledge resulted in several novel contributions to the formulation and interpretation of convex programs and to our understanding of early-stage engineering design. For example, dual solutions (often considered incidental) can be more valuable to a design process than the "optimal design" itself, and we present novel algorithms and design methods based on this insight.