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Design and evaluation of alphabetic and numeric input methods for virtual reality

Journal Article · · Computers and Graphics
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1]
  1. Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
  2. Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic); University of Bergen (Norway)
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
In today’s virtual reality (VR), users have various ways to influence their VR experience, including alphanumeric input. While typing characters and numbers is straightforward on desktop computers, it presents challenges and opportunities in head-mounted display VR due to specific interaction methods and a lack of real-world visual stimuli. Addressing these open questions, our work implements and evaluates ten approaches to alphabetic and numeric inputs in VR. Here, we describe the design motivation behind these input methods and evaluate them in a user study with 40 participants divided into groups for alphabetic and numeric keyboards. This comparison investigates each method’s performance and user interactions. Our findings suggest that different input methods significantly impact words per minute and error rates, and that certain keyboard designs may receive better subjective evaluations despite poorer objective performance.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
2573857
Report Number(s):
LLNL--JRNL-850222
Journal Information:
Computers and Graphics, Journal Name: Computers and Graphics Vol. 122; ISSN 0097-8493
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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  • Gao, Chunming; Pastel, Robert; Tan, Jindong
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