Daniel McGehee / Steven Dean / Sallie Gordon / Rick Gill
Abstract: The objective of this research was to develop and test an integrated cursor control and clicking device called a KeyMouse. The bottom of a single key on a standard keyboard was instrumented with pressure transducers. When the key was fully depressed pressure variations across the surface of the key, caused by a rolling motion of the finger, could be used to control the cursor much like a traditional mouse. A usability study was conducted to determine the optimum layout and configuration of the KeyMouse and its associated click keys. Both subjective preference and performance data revealed a strong preference for a two handed configuration with cursor control via the dominant hand and operation of the click keys with the other.
Keywords: Pointing device input, Hardware development, Empirical studies, Cursor control
Note: Originally published in Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 35th Annual Meeting, 1991, pp. 256-260, (online access).
Republished: G. Perlman, G. K. Green & M. S. Wogalter (Eds) Human Factors Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction: Selections from Proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meetings, 1983-1994, Santa Monica, California: HFES, 1995, pp. 232-236.