The Common Characteristics of User-Defined and Mid-Air Gestures for Rotating 3D Digital Contents

Recently, the technology of mid-air gestures for manipulating 3D digital contents has become an important research issue. In order to conform to the needs of users and contexts, eliciting user-defined gestures is inevitable. However, it was reported that user-defined hand gestures tended to vary significantly in posture, motion and speed, making it difficult to identify common characteristics. In this research, the authors conducted an experiment to study the intuitive hand gestures for controlling the rotation of 3D digital furniture. Twenty graduate students majored in Industrial Design were invited to participate in the task. Although there were great varieties among different participants, common characteristics were extracted through systematic behavior coding and analysis. The results indicated that open palm and D Handshape (American Sign Language) were the most intuitive hand poses. In addition, moving hands along the circumference of a horizontal circle was the most intuitive hand motion and trajectory.