Advances in the design of radar data processing and display systems have resulted in certain nonlinearities in the response of the displayed cursor to a manual input. This paper examines the effects upon target acquisition time, in a simulated air defense environment, of (1) a low-velocity “dead zone” for which no cursor movement occurs, and (2) quantization of control velocity into a small number of discrete cursor velocities. Resulting decrements in acquisition latencies are given as functions of tracking distance and direction. A rolling ball control is used.
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