Weighted Pointer: Error-aware Gaze-based Interaction through Fallback Modalities

• Published in: IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics Vol. 28; no. 11; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Sidenmark, Ludwig, Parent, Mark, Wu, Chi-Hao, Chan, Joannes, Glueck, Michael, Wigdor, Daniel, Grossman, Tovi, Giordano, Marcello
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.11.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Accessibility; Adaptive interfaces; Calibration; Eye movements; Eye tracking; Gaze interaction; Gaze tracking; Manuals; Measurement uncertainty; Switches; Target tracking; Tracking; Tracking errors; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 1077-2626; 1941-0506
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2022.3203096

Gaze-based interaction is a fast and ergonomic type of hands-free interaction that is often used with augmented and virtual reality when pointing at targets. Such interaction, however, can be cumbersome whenever user, tracking, or environmental factors cause eye tracking errors. Recent research has suggested that fallback modalities could be leveraged to ensure stable interaction irrespective of the current level of eye tracking error. This work thus presents Weighted Pointer interaction, a collection of error-aware pointing techniques that determine whether pointing should be performed by gaze, a fallback modality, or a combination of the two, depending on the level of eye tracking error that is present. These techniques enable users to accurately point at targets when eye tracking is accurate and inaccurate. A virtual reality target selection study demonstrated that Weighted Pointer techniques were more performant and preferred over techniques that required the use of manual modality switching.