Tilt and go: exploring multimodal mobile maps in the field

• Published in: Journal on multimodal user interfaces Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 167 - 177
• Main Authors: Ramsay, Andrew, McGee-Lennon, Marilyn, Wilson, Graham A., Gray, Steven J., Gray, Philip, De Turenne, François
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.04.2010
• Subjects: Computer Science; Image Processing and Computer Vision; Original Paper; Signal,Image and Speech Processing; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Mobile devices; Maps; Gestures; SHAKE; Collaboration; Large information space; Tilt; Multimodal interaction; In-field user evaluations
• ISSN: 1783-7677; 1783-8738
• DOI: 10.1007/s12193-010-0037-1

This paper describes a user-based evaluation of the use of multimodal interaction techniques for exploration of digital maps in a mobile context. Pairs of users ( N =18, 9 pairs) collaborated to plan a trip around Points of Interest (POIs) in a park using a map on a mobile phone. Using a second specialised device (the SHAKE), tilt and gesture input could be used to (a) move the map and to (b) interact with information about each POI present on the map. Users had to work together to build a tour of the park by visiting as many of the POIs as possible and photographing an agreed subset of POIs to include in the tour. Users were either given one pair of devices to share to complete the task, or were given a phone and a SHAKE each. The results of the study are presented and discussed including (1) the usability of tilt-based navigation for maps on mobile phones, (2) the usability of gestures to interact with objects in the physical world, (3) collaboration strategies employed, and (4) the importance of testing multimodal applications in the field.