Exploratory experimentation of three techniques for rotating a 3D scene by primary school students

ABSTRACT

Multi-touch mobile devices are now commonly used in any area, including education. In this context we focus on applications for 3D geometry learning in primary schools. Manipulating a 3D scene based on a 2D input touch space is one key challenge of such applications for pupils. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory experimentation with pupils. We compare three different interaction techniques for rotating a 3D scene based on different interaction metaphors by using: multi-touch input, movements of the tablet captured with a gyroscope sensor and movements of the head captured by a camera-based head tracking. We ran the exploratory experiment with 28 pupils in a primary school to compare these three techniques by considering the performance and the subjective preferences. Results indicate worst performance for head-tracking and similar performance for multi-touch input and gyroscope-based movement. Qualitative results indicate participant preference for multi-touch interaction.

References

1. Bakó, M. Different projecting methods in teaching spatial geometry. In Proceedings of CERME'03.
2. Bertolo, D., Vivian R. and Dinet J. A set of interactions to rotate solids in 3D geometry context. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts, ACM, 625--630.
3. Bertolo, D., Vivian R. and Dinet J. A set of interactions to help to resolve 3D geometry problems. In Proceedings of SAI'13, IEEE, 738--743.
4. Cohé, A., Dècle, F. and Hachet M. tBox: A 3D transformation widget designed for touch-screens. In Proceedings of CHI'11, ACM, 3005-3008.
5. Duval, R. Geometry from a Cognitive Point of View. In C Mammana and V. Villani (Eds.), Perspectives on the Teaching of Geometry for the 21stCentury, 1998, Kluwer Academic, 37--52.
6. Francone, J. and Nigay L. Using the User's Point of View for Interaction on Mobile Devices. In Proceedings of IHM'11, ACM, No. 4.
7. Hinrichs, U., Carpendale, S. Gestures in the wild: studying multi-touch gesture sequences on interactive tabletop exhibits. In Proceedings of CHI'11, ACM, p. 3023--3032.
8. Hürst, W. and Helder M. Mobile 3D graphics and virtual reality interaction. In Proceedings of ACE'11, ACM, No. 28.
9. Reisman, J. L, Davidson, P. L. and Han, J. Y. A screen-space formulation for 2D and 3D direct manipulation. In Proceedings of UIST'09, ACM, 69--78.
10. Rousset, E., Berard, F. and Ortega, M. Two-finger 3D rotations for novice users: surjective and integral interactions. In Proceedings of AVI'14, ACM, 217--224.
11. Wobbrock, J. O., Morris, M. R. and Wilson, A. D. Userdefined gestures for surfaces computing. In Proceedings of CHI '09, ACM, 1083-109.

Index Terms

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

    • Interaction paradigms

• Mathematics of computing

  • Mathematical software