Using the Speed-Accuracy Operating Characteristic to Visualize Performance with Pointing Devices

ABSTRACT

There is a nearly limitless variety of alternatives to the traditional computer mouse, including trackballs, trackpads, joysticks, head-mounted mouse emulators, and eye-gaze systems, each with its own unique strengths and limitations. Two key challenges in selecting the most appropriate pointing device are (1) collecting accurate, comparable data describing the client's performance with each device under consideration and (2) aggregating, analyzing and displaying the data in a format that allows the client, clinician and other interested parties to make an accurate decision. Tools exist for collecting data, but there has been limited research on how to visualize and compare performance data. The investigator has been exploring the use of the speed-accuracy operating characteristic (SAOC) as a means of comparing performance on computer pointing tasks between different pointing devices (e.g., mouse, trackball, touchpad). The SAOC is a graphical representation of the trade-off between speed and accuracy that has been used in a range of timed reaction tasks, including pointing tasks. The SAOC is easy for clinicians, clients and third-party payers to interpret, and provides an efficient means of summarizing and documenting performance but does not replace clinical judgement or eliminate the need for clinician-client interaction.