Speech-Based Navigation: Improving Grid-Based Solutions

Abstract

Speech-based technology is a useful alternative to traditional input techniques such as the keyboard and mouse. For people with disabilities that hinder use of traditional input devices, a hands-free speechbased interaction solution is highly desirable. Various speech-based navigation techniques have been discussed in the literature and employed in commercial software applications. Among them, grid-based navigation has shown both potential and limitations. Grid-based solutions allow users to position the cursor using recursive grids to 'drill down' until the cursor is in the desired location. We report the results of an empirical study that assessed the efficacy of two enhancements to the grid-based navigation technique: magnification and fine-tuning. Both mechanisms were designed to facilitate the process of selecting small targets. The results suggest that both the magnification and the fine-tuning capabilities significantly improved the participants' performance when selecting small targets and that fine-tuning also has benefits when selecting larger targets. Participants preferred the solution that provided both enhancements.

Use of Speech Technology in Real Life Environment

“…At this point, four simple commands ('Up', 'Down', 'Right' and 'Left') were enabled to allow users to fine-tune the cursor location. For detailed information on the effect of the magnification function see [23]. The study was conducted at the participants' homes and lasted for six months.…”

Investigating Grid-Based Navigation

“…Therefore, we expanded our data collection to include two additional groups of users: individuals with upperbody physical disabilities that hinder the use of keyboard and mouse as well as an age-matched group of individuals without physical disabilities. The results reported by Zhu et al [2009] serve as the baseline condition for the comparison purposes.…”

“…The second was an age-matched group of participants without disabilities, and the third group included young adults without disabilities. The preliminary analysis of the data collected from the young adults has been reported in Zhu et al [2009]. The current article presents a comprehensive analysis of the performance of all three participant groups.…”

Multimodal Gaze Interaction for Creative Design

“…One promising approach to aid the selection of targets is the use of grids that are overlaid on a digital canvas. Studies have investigated their use to support people with visual [11,25,26,40,56] and physical impairments in using digital systems [44,73], although no work has explored their potential for target selection in more "real-world" scenarios (i.e. from a digital canvas) using gaze pointing.…”