Abstract
The present study of user's capacity to utilize hand pose to sense the control coordinates of a manipulative task environment extends previous studies of this cueing method to examine more widely used trackball and trackpad computer input devices. Test subjects controlled the input devices with their right hand, while their left hand was aligned with an adjustable rigid object that provided the kinesthetically sensed cue. Results show that the kinesthetic cue reduces extraneous path motion, as previously seen for pen-tablet devices. Analysis indicates that when the cue was present, individuals having more exposure to geometry and mathematics slowed their movements, possibly indicating additional mental processing to monitor motion. Without cueing, the trackpad users showed worse performance than trackball users at large rotational disturbances. However, trackpad users showed the greatest improvements when the cue was added.
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