Assisting Mouse Pointer Recovery in Multi-Display Environments

Abstract

Recovering the mouse pointer in a multi-display environment after it got lost, e.g., because the user shifted his or her visual attention to another task, can be very annoying and frustrating. The reason is that the user has to oversee a large display space requiring sequential sampling actions. These actions consume psycho-physiological effort for moving the eyes and head around, and increase the time needed to recover the mouse pointer. In this paper, we present an assistant system to support users to recover their mouse pointers in multi-display environments. A preliminary user study showed no significant improvement of mouse pointer recovery time, but usability and satisfaction were assessed positive. This work was carried out as part of a course on human-machine interaction at the University of Oldenburg.