User interface design considerations for emerging input technologies in iTV

• Main Author: Wolford, Justin
• Other Authors: Jensen, Carlos
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Interactive television; User interfaces (Computer systems)
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/30027

Streaming media and interactive television viewing experiences are becoming more commonplace with the introduction of services such as Netflix Streaming, the Apple TV, and Google TV aided by the increase adoption of broadband internet. As these services make their way into the living room, and developers struggle to accommodate more complex interaction requirements, new input methods and interfaces need to be developed. Current interfaces for controlling interactive TV and media management have typically been designed for the desktop and laptop experience, using conventional input devices like a trackpad, mouse and keyboard. These techniques are difficult to reconcile with the typical TV viewing experience. We designed an experiment to test a representative interactive TV interface with a number of emerging input technologies like the Nintendo Wiimote, Microsoft Kinect and tablet applications. We measured user performance with these devices while encumbered by a beverage and plate of food in order to simulate a living room experience. We found that while most of these technologies are suitable for navigating an Interactive TV experience, their use challenges us to rethink the user experience, and places limitations on things like button size and placement, as well as the types of UI widgets we can use. We hope these guidelines and heuristics will help in the design of future interactive TV experiences, as well as the development of novel interaction techniques for the TV viewing experience. === Graduation date: 2012 === Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from June 19, 2012 - June 19, 2013