The implicit fan cursor: a velocity dependent area cursor

Abstract

We present the Implicit Fan Cursor (IFC) - a novel target pointing technique using a cursor with a fan-shape activation area. The IFC couples the cursor's activation area with its velocity, i.e., the speed and direction of the mouse motion, behaving like a 2D spotlight cursor at low speed and a circular area cursor at high speed. Thus, it enables the user to precisely acquire distant targets at low speed and easily acquire nearest targets at high speed, without explicit mode switching. This technique minimizes cursor movement, while taking into consideration of the precision of cursor movement at different speeds. It also ensures that only one target is captured at any time. The results of our controlled experiments show that the IFC outperforms the point cursor and the area cursor techniques, particularly in terms of cursor moving distance, and that its performance can be accurately modeled using the Fitts' law.