PocketMenu: Non-Visual Menus for Touch Screen Devices

We present PocketMenu, a menu optimized for non-visual, in-pocket interaction with menus on handheld devices with touch screens. By laying out menu items along the border of the touch screen its tactile features guide the interaction. Additional vibro-tactile feedback and speech allows identify-ing the individual menu items non-visually. In an experiment, we compared PocketMenu with iPhone’s VoiceOver. Partic-ipants had to control an MP3 player while walking down a road with the device in the pocket. The results provide evi-dence that in the above context the PocketMenu outperforms VoiceOver in terms of completion time, selection errors, and subjective usability. Hence, it enables usage of touch screen apps in mobile contexts (e.g. walking, hiking, or skiing) and limited interaction spaces (e.g. device resting in a pocket)