A comparative study of four input devices for desktop virtual walkthroughs

This paper presents the results of an experiment measuring the effect of four different input devices on overall task performance for desktop virtual walkthroughs. The input devices tested are: a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick and a gamepad. The results indicate that the participants completed the tasks in significantly less time and distance travelled with the mouse than with the three other input devices. The use of the mouse also significantly reduced the number of collisions, while the use of the gamepad resulted in significantly more collisions.

► We compare four travel techniques for desktop virtual walkthroughs. ► Each travel technique uses a different input device and we used a directed search task. ► The four input devices are: mouse, keyboard, joystick, gamepad. ► The mouse interface reduces time, travel distance compared to the other techniques. ► The gamepad interface increases the number of collision with the environment.