Week 11 Summary
Pop through Button Devices for VE Navigation and Interaction
The paper discusses 2 input devices to navigate and interact with the virtual world. The Trigger Gun and the Finger Sleeve both have pop through buttons which can support 2 activation states depending on the pressure applied. Combined with the off-state, they provide 3 states.
The Trigger Gun has 2 pop through buttons. One under the index finger which supports larger travel distances and the other under the thumb. These buttons are embedded in a clay frame and is structured more like a joystick. The Finger Sleeve is made up of a flexible material and also has 2 pop through buttons. The buttons are controlled by the thumb. It is worn on the index finger of either hand and the tracker in the back is used to gage the direction being pointed to.
To test and demonstrate the usefulness of the devices, the authors proposed a modified version of already existing navigation techniques – Zoom Back and Laser Grab. The Zoom Back functionality allowed users to point to a particular location and then translate there. A slight press of the button translated the users to the pointed location temporarily. From here, releasing the button translated the user back to their original position and fully pressing the button moved them to that location formally. The Laser Grab is a modified version of the Zoom Back which allowed users to be around rather than on the surface they are pointing to. The user can vary their distance from the object using this. The strong press of the button activated the Orbital Mode which allowed the users to rotate around the objects. Snapshot was another application/interaction they made to allow users to take snapshots by pressing one of the buttons and select images from a list of images.
In my opinion, both the devices are quite different yet intuitive. The Finger Sleeve allows the natural pointing and identifying mechanic of our daily lives while the joystick has been are most commonly medium of interaction with virtual worlds (thanks to video games).
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