Fitts' Law Predictions with an Alternative Pointing Device (Wiimote®)

Abstract

A Nintendo® Wiimote® enabled testing of both zero- and first-order of control for a Fitts' Law-style pointing task using the same device. The Wiimote® differs from standard computer input devices in that the user has available a full range of three-dimensional motions. Participants were assigned to one of the two orders of control and completed a pointing task that included 50 trials on three sets of boxes, each a different size and distance from each other. Results indicated that participants using the Wiimote® as a zero-order input device (i.e., directly controlling cursor position) were roughly 2.5 times faster at completing the task than those using the Willmote® as a first-order device, (i.e., controlling cursor velocity). As expected, participants using the first-order controller had smaller effective distances than those using the zero-order control scheme. Surprisingly, no meaningful differences were found between the two groups for overall error rate. This raises interesting questions for the future of three-dimensional control devices.