Automatic Lock of Cursor Movement: Implications for an Efficient Eye-Gaze Input Method for Drag and Menu Selection

Abstract

This study proposed a method—automatic lock of cursor movement (ALCM)—that locks a cursor at the center of a target at the instant the cursor enters the target. The method is intended to suppress irritating subtle cursor movements that occur when an eye-gaze input system transforms involuntary eye movement (e.g., drift) into cursor coordinates. The effectiveness of the proposed ALCM was verified using pointing performance (speed and accuracy) in two types of HCI tasks. In a drag task, we compared mouse input versus eye-gaze input with use of a backspace (BS) key or voice input. The key or voice facilitates target selection once the eye gaze was aligned with a target. In a menu selection task, we also compared mouse input with eye-gaze and the use of two voice input conditions. This task required gaze alignment with a menu and menu item by use of voice input for selection. Whether the ALCM function was added to the eye-gaze input system or not was a within-subject factor. The input method and target sizes were within-subject factors. The study concluded that the ALCM improved pointing accuracy for all eye-gaze input methods and all two tasks.