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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Patrick OlivierORCiD
Attribute gates are a new user interface element designed to address the problem of concurrently setting attributes and moving objects between territories on a digital tabletop. Motivated by the notion of task levels in activity theory, and crossing interfaces, attribute gates allow users to opera-tionalize multiple subtasks in one smooth movement. We present two configurations of attribute gates; (1) grid gates which spatially distribute attribute values in a regular grid, and require users to draw trajectories through the attributes; (2) polar gates which distribute attribute values on seg-ments of concentric rings, and require users to align seg-ments when setting attribute combinations. The layout of both configurations of attribute gates was optimised based on targeting and steering laws derived from Fitts’ Law. A study compared the use of attribute gates with traditional contextual menus. Users of attribute gates demonstrated both increased performance and higher mutual awareness.
Author(s): Sulaiman AN, Olivier P
Publication type: Report
Publication status: Published
Series Title: School of Computing Science Technical Report Series
Year: 2008
Pages: 12
Print publication date: 01/04/2008
Source Publication Date: April 2008
Report Number: 1087
Institution: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Place Published: Newcastle upon Tyne
URL: http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/publications/trs/papers/1087.pdf
