User performance measures for evaluating interactive TV pointing devices

Abstract

This study evaluated remote pointing devices for testing that are applicable to interactive TV (iTV). With a standard Mouse 2.0 as the baseline condition, empirical experiments were conducted on new pointing devices for three different interaction methods. For measurement, a directional task on a straight trail based on Fitts' law specified in ISO 9241-9 and a steering tunnel task on a curved trail based on Steering law were performed. As a result of the evaluation for movement on a straight trail, Hall mouse and OFN showed a higher accuracy than GyroPoint, whereas GyroPoint showed a faster speed than the other methods. The evaluation on a curved trail, however, found that the speed and accuracy of GyroPoint, Hall mouse, and OFN were all excellent. These results suggest that pointing devices can exhibit different performances by task. In this study, a curved trail was considered in addition to the straight trail specified in ISO 9241-9 for measurement of interactive pointing devices, which enabled general diagnosis and evaluation for input methods that are appropriate for the actual iTV environment. Above all, this paper is meaningful in that it provides extended evaluation criteria for a curved trail that incorporates various interaction styles now being developed.