Navigation by pointing to GPS locations

This article deals with a method for interacting with a handheld navigation application, based on using the mobile device for pointing. When the user points the device in any direction, feedback will be provided based on if the user is aiming at the next point in the track or beside it. The presented study has been performed in order to get a better understanding of how the basic parameters in this type of interaction—like the angle for pointing and the size of the target—influence the navigation performance. We have applied a dual investigation by running a computer simulation varying additional parameters such as GPS accuracy and user behavior, and also running an in-context study with 15 participants in a realistic outdoor setting with real location-based GPS data. The study has resulted in general recommendations for angle intervals and the radius of the circles surrounding the track points.