Definition of tactile interactions for a multi-criteria selection in learning geometry application

Abstract

Tablets and smartphones are now increasingly common and the interfaces are predominantly touch-based and often multi-touch. More and more schools are testing them with their students in the hope of bringing educational benefits. With this new type of device, new interactions become possible. Many studies have been done on the manipulation of 3D objects with 2D input devices, but we are only at the beginning of studies that link the needs of pedagogy with the possibilities of these new types of interactions. FINGERS© ((Find INteractions for Geometry learNERS) )is an application for learning spatial geometry. It is intended for pupils aged 9 to 12. The interactions have been designed with the teachers. Some interactions are specific to 3D geometry (translations 3 DOF, rotations, nets, combinations of cubes, etc) and others are general like naming or multi-selection. Many gesture grammars offer a set of interactions to select an object or a group of objects. Multi-taps or lassoing around an area are commonly adopted interactions. The execution of geometry exercises requires the construction of other interactions such as multi-criteria selection. The real question is how to introduce a parameter into the tactile selection. This seemingly simple interaction is in fact complex to implement. One of the problems is often the large amount of information displayed on the screen. The amount of information displayed does not allow the use of conventional selection modes. The difficulties encountered are, for example, that objects can hide, their size is too small, their number is too large. This selection could be based on physical similarity (cube, cylinder, pyramid, sphere, etc.), similarity of colour, orientation in space, etc. For example, how to select all red cubes, how to select all green objects, how to select all cylinders. The real question is how to define a grammar of tactile gestures that allows parameter selection. After presenting the limitations of current solutions, we present the solutions developed in FINGERS©. We explain how they allow a simple and intuitive "multi-criteria" selection by using physical or colorometric characteristics of objects. We present examples from the implementation of this selection mode in the FINGERS software.