A Comparative Study of User Performance in a Map-Based Virtual Environment
J. Edward Swan II, Joseph L. Gabbard, Deborah Hix, Robert S. Schulman, and Keun Pyo Kim. A Comparative Study of User Performance in a Map-Based Virtual Environment. In Technical Papers, Proceedings of IEEE Virtual Reality 2003, pp. 259–266, IEEE Computer Society, March 2003.
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Abstract
We present a comparative study of user performance with tasks involving navigation, visual search, and geometric manipulation, in a map-based battlefield visualization virtual environment (VE). Specifically, our experiment compared user performance of the same task across four different VE platforms: desktop, cave, workbench, and wall. Independent variables were platform type, stereopsis (stereo, mono), movement control mode (rate, position), and frame of reference (egocentric, exocentric). Overall results showed that users performed tasks fastest using the desktop and slowest using the workbench. Other results are detailed below. Notable is that we de-signed our task in an application context, with tasking much closer to how users would actually use a real-world battlefield visualization system. This is very uncommon for comparative studies, which are usually designed with abstract tasks to minimize variance. This is, we believe, one of the first and most complex studies to comparatively examine, in an application context, this many key variables affecting VE user interface design.
Additional Information
Acceptance rate: 28% (29 out of 103)
BibTeX
@InProceedings{IEEEVR03-mbve,
author = {J. Edward {Swan~II} and Joseph L. Gabbard and Deborah Hix and
Robert S. Schulman and Keun Pyo Kim},
title = {A Comparative Study of User Performance in a Map-Based Virtual Environment},
booktitle = {Technical Papers, Proceedings of IEEE Virtual Reality 2003},
location = {Los Angeles, California, USA},
date = {March 22--26},
month = {March},
year = 2003,
publisher = {IEEE Computer Society},
pages = {259--266},
abstract = {
We present a comparative study of user performance with tasks involving
navigation, visual search, and geometric manipulation, in a map-based
battlefield visualization virtual environment (VE). Specifically, our
experiment compared user performance of the same task across four different VE
platforms: desktop, cave, workbench, and wall. Independent variables were
platform type, stereopsis (stereo, mono), movement control mode (rate,
position), and frame of reference (egocentric, exocentric). Overall results
showed that users performed tasks fastest using the desktop and slowest using
the workbench. Other results are detailed below. Notable is that we de-signed
our task in an application context, with tasking much closer to how users would
actually use a real-world battlefield visualization system. This is very
uncommon for comparative studies, which are usually designed with abstract tasks
to minimize variance. This is, we believe, one of the first and most complex
studies to comparatively examine, in an application context, this many key
variables affecting VE user interface design.
},
}