Multipoint Input Techniques for Information Visualization

多点触控功能已经变得非常便宜，并在台式显示器和便携式设备上广泛使用。多点触摸交互是“多点”输入的一个例子，用户可以一次指定多个光标位置。另一个多点输入的例子是与两个鼠标交互，两只手各拿一个。在过去的20年里，人机交互的研究人员已经提出了十几种技术来快速选择命令，使用一个或多个输入点，通过专门的弹出菜单和/或与鼠标、多点触控硬件或其他设备进行交互。这些交互技术可能比使用传统的工具栏或调色板更快，因为它们消除了用户在显示器外围和工作空间中心之间移动的需要。然而，设计师需要指导才能在众多建议的技术中进行选择。这项研究将为涉及信息可视化的应用提供这样的指导。该研究将对以前的交互技术和新的交互技术进行分析和实验比较，并开发专门适用于2D和3D信息可视化的扩展。

Multitouch capabilities have become very inexpensive and widely available on desktop displays and portable devices. Multitouch interaction is one example of "multipoint" input, where the user can specify more than a single cursor location at a time. Another example of multipoint input is interacting with two mice, one held in each hand. Over the past 20 years, researchers in human-computer interaction have proposed more than a dozen techniques for quickly selecting commands, using one or multiple points of input, interacting via specialized popup menus and/or gestures with mice, multitouch hardware, or other devices. These interaction techniques can be faster than using traditional toolbars or palettes, because they eliminate the need for the user to travel between the periphery of the display and the centre of the workspace. However, designers need guidance to choose among the many proposed techniques. This research will provide such guidance for applications involving information visualization. The research will analyze and experimentally compare previous and new interaction techniques, and also develop extensions of them specially suited for 2D and 3D information visualization.