Superiority of freehand pointing

There is a possibility that computer mice may be replaced with eye-gaze or touchscreen technologies. Hence, it is imperative that we investigate the effect of the type of input device in conditions having lateral constraints. A set of tracks with different levels of difficulty were tested. The type of device had little influence on movement time for ballistic steering tasks, while movement time was affected by the type of device used in visually controlled steering tasks. It was also found that resting the forearm increased movement time. Subjective evaluations indicated that control is easier with freehand pointing. Considering both comfort and performance it appears that freehand pointing, when resting the forearm, is optimal for a touchscreen. Copyright 2013 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Inc