The Study of Pressure-based Technique for Target Acquisition in Pen User Interfaces

Pen pressure has enabled a new degree of freedom for interactions in pen-based user interfaces, which has been shown the potential in relevant studies [6-8]. In this paper, we present a new pressure-based technique called Pressure Cursor for target acquisitions, in particular for small targets. Pressure Cursor enhances target acquisition by employing pen pressure as a control variable to enlarge the cursor. Pressure Cursor uses quick-release in the final determination of selecting a target, being different from traditional pointing technique (clicking). This technique is especially helpful for small targets. We conducted a quantitative experiment to examine the performance of this technique and to reveal its significant benefits.