Alternative tools for tangible interaction: a usability evaluation

In this work we compare an in-house designed tangible user interface (TUI) with three alternative single-user tools through an empirical investigation. These three alternative tools are a 3D physical, a 2D cardboard, and a mathematical tool. We expected the 3D physical to perform best, followed by the TUI, the 2D cardboard, and the mathematical tool. A pilot study was first carried out, the results of which were used to design a major experiment. Participants solved the same positioning problem, each using one of the four tools. The mathematical tool was not used in the experiment. In the experiment, trial time, number of user operations, learning effect in both, and user satisfaction were measured. The TUI significantly outperformed the 2D cardboard tool. However, there was no significant difference between the TUI and the 3D physical tool. This justifies the value of researching TUI systems and carrying out usability studies with such systems.