Usable Gestures

Summary

This article discusses the implementation of more body based gestures to mobile devices. They determine what gestures can be used to increase usability as well as be appropriate in differing social situations.

Discussion

Pros

  • Asking which gestures were unacceptable before actually starting trials was a good way to hone in on what gestures needed to be tested.
  • This is definitely something that could help enhance a touch screen device which is limited because the display has no good haptic feedback
  • They talked about how location greatly effects what is acceptable, this could be used effectively when paired with analysis of where the app would be used. While, it may not help for applications that are used in lots of places, it could be very useful for apps that are used primarily in class as a distraction or a large noisy place etc.

Cons

  • They talked about gesture recognition being limited by technology, but unless you add cameras to make a phone aware of its environment, more socially acceptable gestures are small and could be easily confused with jostling in a pocket. There are enough problems with "butt dials" as it is.
  • Part of the reason there aren't more gestures incorporated into apps is that a mobile device is meant to take up a small amount of space. Requiring lots of movement of the phone effectively increases the amount of space required to use the device.