TwistMouse for simultaneous translation and rotation

Abstract

A common task in many computer applications is positioning objects on the screen. In real life one would simply move the object on the two dimensional plane in one seamless motion translating and rotating simultaneously. These actions must be performed separately with a standard computer mouse when positioning two dimensional (2D) objects.

In the forty years since the first computer mouse was invented several alternative input devices have been produced and evaluated. Most have been developed for a specific domain and studies have consistently shown a standard mouse is still preferred for pointing performance.

This study proposes a mouse input device, the TwistMouse, with three degrees of freedom: horizontal (x), vertical (y) and rotational (z) on a two dimensional plane which can be used to simultaneously translate and rotate for improved efficiency, effectiveness and user satisfaction in object positioning tasks on screen. In all other respects it acts like a standard contemporary computer mouse. This report presents a methodology for evaluating such a device with a task adapted from real world business applications. The positioning mode of the TwistMouse, a standard mouse and a mouse which is set up to use the wheel for rotation are assessed using a single prototype device.

One mode performed significantly better than the others in this study; but it was the wheel mouse mode and not the TwistMouse mode as hypothesised.