Gesture-aware remote controls: Guidelines and interaction technique

Interaction with TV sets, set-top boxes or media centers strongly differs from interaction with personal computers: not only does a typical remote control suffer strong form factor limitations but the user may well be slouching in a sofa. In the face of more and more data, features, and services made available on interactive televisions, we propose to exploit the new capabilities provided by gesture-aware remote controls. We report the data of three user studies that suggest some guidelines for the design of a gestural vocabulary and we propose five novel interaction techniques. Study 1 reports that users spontaneously perform pitch and yaw gestures as the first modality when interacting with a remote control. Study 2 indicates that users can accurately select up to 5 items with eyes-free roll gestures. Capitalizing on our findings, we designed five interaction techniques that use either device motion, or button-based interaction, or both. They all favor the transition from novice to expert usage for selecting favorites. Study 3 experimentally compares these techniques. It reveals that motion of the device in 3D space, associated with finger presses at the surface of the device, is achievable, fast and accurate. Finally, we discuss the integration of these techniques into a coherent multimedia menu system.