In many applications – such as in air-traffic control, in video surveillance, and in computer games – the user needs to quickly and accurately select objects that are moving across the screen. Several previous research projects have proposed various techniques that can assist the user when clicking on moving screen objects. The aim with this project is to compare such techniques and to build a theoretical model that mathematically describes and predicts how fast users can select targets that are moving across the screen (depending on the size of the target and its moving speed).
A first version of a Java application that provides the necessary functionality to conduct user experiments on selection of moving screen objects has already been developed. In this project you will first extend this application with additional functionality and then design and conduct a user experiment that allows you to 1) verify previously reported research results on the effectiveness of various techniques that support the selection of moving screen objects, and 2) empirically build and verify a predictive performance model that explains how fast users can select moving screen objects.
Accordingly, with this project you have the opportunity to deepen your programming skills (using Swing, Java’s GUI toolkit) and you will gain experience in how to design, conduct, and evaluate user experiments, and in theoretical modelling of user performance.
Technologies & Tools: Java, SPSS (for statistical analysis)
Contact: Dr. David Ahlström
