Using Kinect for 2D and 3D Pointing Tasks: Performance Evaluation

• Published in: Human-Computer Interaction. Interaction Modalities and Techniques pp. 358 - 367
• Main Authors: Pino, Alexandros, Tzemis, Evangelos, Ioannou, Nikolaos, Kouroupetroglou, Georgios
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin, Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2013
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: 3D pointing; Fitts’ law; Gesture User Interface; ISO 9241-9; Microsoft Kinect
• ISBN: 9783642393297; 3642393292
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-39330-3_38

We present a study to comparatively evaluate the performance of computer-based 2D and 3D pointing tasks. In our experiments, based on the ISO 9241-9 standard methodology, a Microsoft Kinect device and a mouse were used by seven participants. For the 3D experiments we introduced a novel experiment layout, supplementing the ISO. We examine the pointing devices’ conformance to Fitts’ law and we measure a number of extra parameters that describe more accurately the cursor movement trajectories. Throughput, measured in bits per second is the most important performance measure. For the 2D tasks using Microsoft Kinect, Throughput is almost 39% lower than using the mouse, Target Re-Entry is 10 times up and Missed Clicks count is almost 50% higher. However, for the 3D tasks the mouse has a 9% lower Throughput than the Kinect, while Target Re-Entry and Missed Clicks are almost identical. Our results are also compared to older studies, and we finally show that the Kinect, operated by the user’s hand and voice, is a suitable and effective input method for pointing and clicking, especially in 3D tasks.