A pointing method for graphics

Abstract

As interactive computer systems become popular, the study of pointing devices is becoming more important. This article discusses research on the efficiency of pointing methods which include the combination of a pointing device and its controlling software. One observation from this research is that the pointing efficiency is worse on a model with a smaller target size. Here, we propose a new pointing method—the Brake Type Method—in order to reduce the error rate. In this method, we try to make pointing easier through sufficient control of the movement of the mouse‐cursor. This method was evaluated in an experiment, which was also done with a digitizer (a popular pointing device for graphics). Conclusions indicate that the Brake Type Method proposed here is quite effective in reducing the error rate without losing other aspects of pointing efficiency.