Software-reduced touchscreen latency

Abstract

Devices with touchscreens have an inherent latency. When a user's finger drags an object across the screen the object follows with a latency of around 100ms for current devices. Previous work showed that latencies down to 25ms reduce users' performance and that even 10ms latency is noticeable. In this paper we demonstrate an approach that reduces latency using a predictive model. Extrapolating the finger's movement we predict where the finger will be in the next moment. Comparing different prediction approaches we show for three different tasks that prediction using neural networks is more precise than linear and polynomial extrapolation. Furthermore, we show through a Fitts' Law dragging experiment that reducing touch latency can significantly increases users' performance. As the approach is software-based it can easily be integrated into existing mobile applications and systems.