Benefits of Constrained Interactivity in Using a Three-Dimensional Diagram

Authors:
Peter Khooshabeh;Mary Hegarty;Madeleine Keehner;Cheryl Cohen
Affiliations:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA 93106-9660;Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA 93106-9660;School of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK DD1 4HN;Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA 93106-9660
Venue:
Diagrams '08 Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Diagrammatic Representation and Inference
Year:
2008

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Abstract

In four experiments participants were allowed to manipulate a virtual 3-D object in order to infer and draw 2-D cross sections of it. Key differences between the experiments were the interface and degree of interactivity available. Two experiments used a three degrees-of-freedom inertia tracking device allowing unconstrained interactions and the other two experiments used a slider bar that allowed only one degree-of-freedom movement at a time. Somewhat counter-intuitively, we found that the constrained interface allowed people to access task-relevant information more effectively and resulted in better performance on the task.