Improving Focus Targeting in Interactive Fisheye Views

Fisheye views allow people to see both a focus region and the surrounding context in the same window. However, the magnification effects of the fisheye lens can cause several problems for users. One of these is focus-targeting, where a user moves the focus to a new location. Magnification makes focus-targeting difficult because objects appear to move as the focus point approaches them. This paper examines how the distortion of a fisheye view affects focus-targeting performance, and present a technique called speed-coupled flattening (SCF) as a way to improve focus targeting in distortion-oriented views. SCF dynamically reduces the distortion level of a fisheye based on pointer velocity and acceleration. In an experiment, the technique resulted in significant reductions in both targeting time and targeting errors. By adjusting distortion based on the user's activity, we can improve usability without requiring the user to manipulate any additional view controls