Gaze-touch: combining gaze with multi-touch for interaction on the same surface

Abstract

Gaze has the potential to complement multi-touch for interaction on the same surface. We present gaze-touch, a technique that combines the two modalities based on the principle of 'gaze selects, touch manipulates'. Gaze is used to select a target, and coupled with multi-touch gestures that the user can perform anywhere on the surface. Gaze-touch enables users to manipulate any target from the same touch position, for whole-surface reachability and rapid context switching. Conversely, gaze-touch enables manipulation of the same target from any touch position on the surface, for example to avoid occlusion. Gaze-touch is designed to complement direct-touch as the default interaction on multi-touch surfaces. We provide a design space analysis of the properties of gaze-touch versus direct-touch, and present four applications that explore how gaze-touch can be used alongside direct-touch. The applications demonstrate use cases for interchangeable, complementary and alternative use of the two modes of interaction, and introduce novel techniques arising from the combination of gaze-touch and conventional multi-touch.