User-Defined Motion Gestures for Mobile Interaction

Modern smartphones contain sophisticated sensors to monitor three-dimensional movement of the device. These sensors permit devices to recognize motion gestures-deliberate movements of the device by end-users to invoke commands. However, little is known about best-practices in motion gesture design for the mobile computing paradigm. To address this issue, we present the results of a guessability study that elicits end-user motion gestures to invoke commands on a smartphone device. We demonstrate that consensus exists among our participants on parameters of movement and on mappings of motion gestures onto commands. We use this consensus to develop a taxonomy for motion gestures and to specify an end-user inspired motion gesture set. We highlight the implications of this work to the design of smartphone applications and hardware. Finally, we argue that our results influence best practices in design for all gestural interfaces.