Abstract

To investigate the characteristics of a computer touchpad as a pointing device, 14 participants manipulated the touchpad on a laptop computer with their right hand. They were required to move a cursor over different distances (7.5cm, 15cm) from a home location to targets of different diameters (8mm, 16mm), situated to the upper left, middle, or right of a computer screen. A kinematic analysis of movement onsets and cursor trajectories indicated the nature of inefficiencies of the touchpad compared with other devices, primarily excessive submovements. Upper leftwards movements were poorer and this can be explained by asymmetries in the finger-wrist system. This implies that screen accessibility can vary as a function of users' interaction with cursor controllers, and that the default placements of key icons might need to vary as a consequence.