Is carousel interaction really usable?

In this paper a novel and significant study into the usability of carousel interaction in the context of desktop interaction is presented. Two equivalent prototypes in an e-commerce context were developed. One version had a carousel and the other version did not have a carousel. These were then compared with each other in an empirical experiment with 40 participants. The data collected were statistically analysed and overall results showed that in terms of performance the Web site version without carousel outperformed the version with carousel. Furthermore, the subjective preferences of the participants were strongly in favour of the without carousel version of the site. The results of this study make an important contribution to knowledge suggesting that in many cases implementing a carousel is not the best design decision. The results of this paper are particularly significant in relation to desktop versioned Web sites and goal-driven tasks. Serendipitous-type tasks and mobile versioned web sites used on mobile devices with touch screens were not part of the scope of this work.

Analysis of postures for handwriting on touch screens without using tools

The act of handwriting affected the evolutionary development of humans and still impacts the motor cognition of individuals. However, the ubiquitous use of digital technologies has drastically decreased the number of times we really need to pick a pen up and write on paper. Nonetheless, the positive cognitive impact of handwriting is widely recognized, and a possible way to merge the benefits of handwriting and digital writing is to use suitable tools to write over touchscreens or graphics tablets. In this manuscript, we focus on the possibility of using the hand itself as a writing tool. A novel hand posture named FingerPen is introduced, and can be seen as a grasp performed by the hand on the index finger. A comparison with the most common posture that people tend to assume (i.e. index finger-only exploitation) is carried out by means of a biomechanical model. A conducted user study shows that the FingerPen is appreciated by users and leads to accurate writing traits.

Algorithm for Predicting the Speed of Gesture Interaction with the User Interface of a Mobile Software Application

In this article, Keystroke Level Model and Touchless Hand Gesture Level Model were adapted, as well as Fitts’s law, to work with touch screens of the mobile devices. The article takes into account typical gestures that users most often perform in the process of interaction with touch screens of mobile devices (Tap, Pinch, Swipe, Pan, Drag-and-Drop), as well as time components of gestures (time for direct execution of a gesture, time for mental preparation for the gesture, time for the user to select the necessary grip on the mobile device, time to select the ‘dominant’ hand to perform gestures, the time to select the finger to perform the gesture, time to move the hand away from the touch screen). A method for determining the speed of user gesture interaction has been developed. The problem was formulated and an algorithm was developed. The details of the operation and use of the algorithm are considered. A list of arrays and variables used as initial data for determining the speed of the sequence execution of operations using gesture interaction has been developed. The preparation of the initial data for the operation of the algorithm provides for a research experiment to obtain average values of the temporal components of gestures. The developed algorithm is intended for use at the design stage of mobile software applications that will run on mobile devices with touch screens.

The Associations between Knowledge and Behaviours Related to Touch Screens and Microbiological Threats among IT Students’

Current issue like the COVID–19 pandemic show how elementary knowledge and hygiene behaviours are important for ordinary people. Microbiological hazards, not just viruses, can be transmitted in various ways through touch screens. For ordinary users, there is a wide range of behaviours that affect the ability to transfer microbial hazards (viruses, bacteria and fungi). The purpose of the paper is to analyse the association between knowledge and behaviour of touch screen users based on surveys. This paper presents selected results of a survey conducted at the end of 2019 (pre–COVID–19 survey). The survey was conducted on a group of 172 IT school students. The relationship between responses using a 2D linear model regression and clustering is used. Most respondents believe that bacteria were more common than viruses on touch screens. The respondents declare altruism in terms of a greater willingness to lend their smartphone, rather than to use someone else’s. An interesting result is that respondents often lend their smartphone to others, while being aware that viruses or bacteria are present on the touch screens. The results can be used in terms of changes in the education process of smartphone users in relation to microbiological hazards.

What Animals Want

We now have many different ways of finding out what animals want, from offering them simple choice tests to operant conditioning and using how closely they choose to position themselves with respect to each other and to features of their environment. Animals can vote with their feet, their paws or their beaks, and, if provided with the right equipment, they can push switches, pull levers or use touch screens to indicate what they want. We can even find out how much they want something by seeing if they will ‘work’ to get what they want when it is made more difficult for them to obtain it. Recent developments have included cognitive or judgement tests and other more indirect ways of ‘asking’ animals what they want.