Comparison of Device-Based, One and Two-Handed 7DOF Manipulation Techniques

Abstract

We evaluate three bimanual 7 degree-of-freedom (7DOF) object manipulation techniques that use a pair of precision grasped isotonic devices called buttonballs. 7DOF manipulation means changing position, orientation and scale. We compare the techniques in a (stereo) Fish-tank Virtual Reality (VR) system. The user study displays multiple randomly located boxes of different sizes and the user must dock (i.e. align) each target box with an objective box at the screen center. Comparing task completion times shows that in cases where target and objective boxes are the same size, all three techniques perform equivalently. When the sizes differ--requiring a scale change--two of the technique's, Spindle+Wheel and a minor variant of Grab-and-Scale perform similarly, and are both faster than the third technique, One-Hand+Scale. We compare and contrast our results with other work including free-hand versus held device input and also with 7DOF object manipulation versus 7DOF view manipulation.