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Dirty desktops: using a patina of magnetic mouse dust to make common interactor targets easier to select

Published: 07 October 2007 Publication History

Abstract

A common task in graphical user interfaces is controlling onscreen elements using a pointer. Current adaptive pointing techniques require applications to be built using accessibility libraries that reveal information about interactive targets, and most do not handle path/menu navigation. We present a pseudo-haptic technique that is OS and application independent, and can handle both dragging and clicking. We do this by associating a small force with each past click or drag. When a user frequently clicks in the same general area (e.g., on a button), the patina of past clicks naturally creates a pseudo-haptic magnetic field with an effect similar to that ofsnapping or sticky icons. Our contribution is a bottom-up approach to make targets easier to select without requiring prior knowledge of them.

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  • (2023)BrushLens: Hardware Interaction Proxies for Accessible Touchscreen Interface ActuationProceedings of the 36th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3586183.3606730(1-17)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2023
  • (2023)Pull It Together: Textile Patina as an Interface for Externalizing Invisible TensionCompanion Publication of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563703.3596638(232-236)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
  • (2019)Keeping and Discarding Personal DataProceedings of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3322276.3322300(1463-1477)Online publication date: 18-Jun-2019
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  1. Dirty desktops: using a patina of magnetic mouse dust to make common interactor targets easier to select

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    UIST '07: Proceedings of the 20th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
    October 2007
    306 pages
    ISBN:9781595936790
    DOI:10.1145/1294211
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Published: 07 October 2007

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    Author Tags

    1. adaptation
    2. mouse
    3. pointer
    4. snapping

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2023)BrushLens: Hardware Interaction Proxies for Accessible Touchscreen Interface ActuationProceedings of the 36th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3586183.3606730(1-17)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2023
    • (2023)Pull It Together: Textile Patina as an Interface for Externalizing Invisible TensionCompanion Publication of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563703.3596638(232-236)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
    • (2019)Keeping and Discarding Personal DataProceedings of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3322276.3322300(1463-1477)Online publication date: 18-Jun-2019
    • (2017)Interaction Proxies for Runtime Repair and Enhancement of Mobile Application AccessibilityProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3025453.3025846(6024-6037)Online publication date: 2-May-2017
    • (2016)Patina-inspired PersonalizationProceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems10.1145/2901790.2901812(251-263)Online publication date: 4-Jun-2016
    • (2014)Improving Pointing in Graphical User Interfaces for People with Motor Impairments Through Ability-Based DesignAssistive Technologies and Computer Access for Motor Disabilities10.4018/978-1-4666-4438-0.ch008(206-253)Online publication date: 2014
    • (2014)Data-driven interaction techniques for improving navigation of educational videosProceedings of the 27th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology10.1145/2642918.2647389(563-572)Online publication date: 5-Oct-2014
    • (2014)RouteLensProceedings of the 2014 International Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces10.1145/2598153.2598200(125-128)Online publication date: 27-May-2014
    • (2014)Adaptive sliding menubars make existing software more accessible to people with severe motion impairmentsUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-013-0295-213:1(5-22)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2014
    • (2013)PatinaProceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2470654.2466442(3227-3236)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2013
    • Show More Cited By

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