A command line interface versus a graphical user interface in coding VR systems

This paper draws comparisons between a Command Line Interface and a Graphical User Interface. We have developed a generic VR tool (VaiR) to be used for various purposes in simulations and demonstrations by different types of users. VaiR is a complex SW tool written in C++. Its object-oriented approach and the abstract composition makes it flexible and adaptable. In this paper, we investigate the necessity for the development of a graphical user interface to support such complex VR systems, and provide its users a relatively simple and more effective programming environment. The results of our pilot study indicate that a GUI is beneficial even for skilled programmers since it presents a logical order with pre-initialized basic settings. We also investigated its use in various levels of programming skills. Since the novices and experts handle SW tools differently in coding, the GUI of a complex VR system should be adaptive.