Comparing mouse and MAGIC pointing for moving target acquisition

Moving target acquisition is a challenging and manually stressful task if performed using an all-manual, pointer-based interaction technique like mouse interaction, especially if targets are small, move fast, and are visible on screen only for a limited time. The MAGIC pointing interaction approach combines the precision of manual, pointer-based interaction with the speed and little manual stress of eye pointing. In this contribution, a pilot study with twelve participants on moving target acquisition is presented using an abstract experimental task derived from a video analysis scenario. Mouse input, conservative MAGIC pointing and MAGIC button are compared considering acquisition time, error rate, and user satisfaction. Although none of the participants had used MAGIC pointing before, eight participants voted for MAGIC button being their favorite technique; participants performed with only slightly higher mean acquisition time and error rate than with the familiar mouse input. Conservative MAGIC pointing was preferred by three participants; however, mean acquisition time and error rate were significantly worse than with mouse input.