We present DynaSpot, a new technique for acquiring targets based on the area cursor. DynaSpot couples the cursor's activation area with its speed, behaving like a point cursor at low speed or when motionless. This technique minimizes visual distraction and allows pointing anywhere in empty space without requiring an explicit mode switch, thus enabling users to perform common interactions such as region selections seamlessly. The results of our controlled experiments show that the performance of DynaSpot can be modeled by Fitts' law, and that DynaSpot significantly outperforms the point cursor and achieves, in most conditions, the same level of performance as one of the most promising techniques to date, the Bubble cursor.

CHI 2009 Honorable Mention Paper Award

Keyword
  ° Human-Computer Interaction
  ° Design and Evaluation of Interactive Systems
  ° Fitts' Law

Group
  ° Human-Centered Computing

Contact
  ° CHAPUIS Olivier