Pen + Mid-Air Gestures: Eliciting Contextual Gestures

Abstract

Combining mid-air gestures with pen input for bi-manual input on tablets has been reported as an alternative and attractive input technique in drawing applications. Previous work has also argued that mid-air gestural input can cause discomfort and arm fatigue over time, which can be addressed in a desktop setting by allowing users to gesture in alternative restful arm positions (e.g., elbow rests on desk). However, it is unclear if and how gesture preferences and gesture designs would be different for alternative arm positions. In order to inquire these research question we report on a user and choice based gesture elicitation study in which 10 participants designed gestures for different arm positions. We provide an in-depth qualitative analysis and detailed categorization of gestures, discussing commonalities and differences in the gesture sets based on a "think aloud" protocol, video recordings, and self-reports on user preferences.