Transcript High-density cursor: a visualization technique that helps

high-density cursor
helps users keep track of fast-moving mouse cursors
patrick baudisch
edward cutrell, george robertson
microsoft research
visualization and interaction research
goals
•
with today’s large screens and multimon
users lose track of the cursor
•
high-density cursor solves this problem
by filling in additional cursor images
•
high-density cursor makes users faster
while having virtually no side-effects
•
general insight: display frame rate is not a hard limit
large screens and multimon
• information mural
[Guimbretière, Winograd]
• on large screens optical flow
helps navigation [Tan 2001]
• large screens help productivity
tasks [Czerwinski 2003]
Use Multimon
32%
No Multimon
30%
• focus-plus-context screens faster
than overviews [Baudisch 2001]
• multi-monitor setups: access
palette windows in Photoshop,
CAD… [Grudin 2001]
Plan to Use
Multimon
38%
[Jon Peddie Research
Dec, 2002 N=6652]
challenge:
keeping the mouse working
• longer distances  higher mouse acceleration
• temporal aliasing: 500 pixels jumps
• lack of visual continuity 
users lose track of the cursor
the problem will get worse
•

•
•
•
“yes, but won’t faster computers make this problem go away?”
 NO: cursor update is limited by screen refresh rate
screen refresh rate has actually decreased (LCDs)
larger screens + lower refresh rate  status quo
future: even larger screens  problem will get worse
demo…
previous cursor
position
current cursor
position
inserts cursor image between actual cursor positions
 the mouse cursor appear more continuous
this is not the mouse trail
 video
the windows
mouse trail…
• makes mouse trail
last longer
• drawback: cursor
images lag behind
...is not highdensity cursor
• hd cursor makes
mouse trail denser
• lag-free: mouse
stops => cursor
stops
benefits
previous cursor position
current cursor position
1. mouse cursor appear more continuous
 easier to track the cursor
2. higher “visual weight”
 easier to re-acquire the cursor
related work
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acquiring distant targets
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•
•
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enhance detectability of the mouse cursor
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move cursor with eye gaze (Sibert and Jacob, 2000), Magic pointing (Zhai et al., 1999)
flick snaps cursor to target (Dulberg et al. (1999)
sticky icons capture cursor (Swaminathan and Sato, 1997)
throwing gets across long distances (Geißler, 1998)
expanding targets save space on screen (McGuffin and Balakrishnan, 2002)
drag-and-pop (baudisch et al 2003)
<ctrl> for radar animation (Microsoft, Steve Bathiche)
cursor growth (Kensington Mouseworks 2001)
mouse trail for slow response LCDs (e.g. MS Windows)
liveCursor points in the direction of its motion (Ben Bederson)
motion blur and temporal supersampling
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reduce temporal aliasing, such as stroboscope, e.g. wheel spokes
rendering a scene multiple times (Dachille and Kaufman, 2000)
improve the perceived responsiveness of graphics apps (Conner and Holden, 1997)
help users anticipate motion (Chang, 1993; Thomas & Calder, 2001)
design
design goals
•
for users who track the cursor
enhance the predictability of the cursor path
• enhanced trail density/continuous blur
• smooth interpolation of the cursor path
• preservation of trail density as a cue for cursor speed.
•
for users who reacquire the cursor
increase the detectability of the cursor (visual weight)
• enhanced trail density
• enhanced cursor opacity
• and cursor scaling.
•
preserve responsiveness
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
frame
• reference: exponential acceleration
acceleration
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
frame
• motion blur with higher weight
acceleration
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f discreet version
chose
1. latest
cursor position is always shown blur-free and in full opacity
g
2. appearance that users are familiar with today
h
3. computationally
less expensive
frame
• temporal super-sampling vs. motion blur
acceleration
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
frame
• density = detectability vs. intrusiveness
acceleration
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
frame
acceleration
• distance between cursor images as cue for mouse speed
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
frame
• smooth interpolation
acceleration
transfer function
distance
between
cursor
images
transfer function
(configurable)
cursor trail provides no speed cues
onset threshold
(configurable)
mouse speed
designs alternatives
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
frame
• optional cursor growth
acceleration
bezier interpolation
cursor position
1. linear interpolation
2. attraction point
3. interpolate
user study
pre-study

goal: define interfaces for user study
participants: 14 coworkers

informal procedure

– try out high-density cursor
– try out different settings (density, onset…)
– choose “favorite” setting

resulting interface parameters
– 12-17 pixels/frame vs. 35 pixels/frame
– distance = sqrt(n)
– cursor growth on or off
user study
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interfaces: control vs.
high-density cursor (conservative, tripleDensity, plusScaling)
fitts’ law task
triple-mon: button located at 5” to 40” distance
participants: 7 external participants, 5 coworkers
• hypotheses
• high-density cursor faster
• the greater the distance the
greater the effect
• tripleDensity and plusScaling
faster than conservative
time % relative to regular cursor
results
regular mouse cursor
102
100
98
96
94
92
90
short distance
conservative
+ scale
speedup
up to 7%
+3-dense
high-density cursors
125
250
500
target distance (mm)
750 1000
subjective satisfaction
Liked Most
Liked Least
control
0
7
HD_conservative
2
3
HD_tripleDensity
2
0
HD_plusScaling
6
0
Condition
• most participants did not notice that cursor was different!
“did that condition use a different mouse acceleration?”…
goals revisited conclusions

with today’s large screens and multimon
users lose track of the cursor

high-density cursor solves this problem
by filling in additional cursor images

high-density cursor makes users faster
while having virtually no side-effects

general insight: display frame rate is not a hard limit
thank you!
try it out: Google high-density cursor
paid advertisement
more about motion blur and animation
drag-and-pop talk tomorrow 4:30pm
thanks to: eric horvitz, dan robbins
brian meyers, pravin santiago
steve bathiche, colin anthony
john pruitt, mary czerwinski
greg smith, and desney tan
(a) mouse trail
t
mouse
motion
(b) high-density cursor
t
mouse
motion