Presentation
Directional Bias and Bilateral Symmetry in Thumbstick Control: An Empirical Study of Hand and Target Location Effects
SessionWednesday Poster Session
DescriptionThumbsticks are widely adopted input devices for gaming, virtual reality, and remote robot control owing to their simple and intuitive manipulation. However, the kinematic characteristics of thumbstick manipulation within their workspace remain insufficiently characterized, given the mismatch between the thumb's anatomical movement and the device's two-dimensional analog workspace. In this study, we empirically investigate how hand and target location affect endpoint distribution, directional bias, and perceived difficulty during thumbstick control. We conducted a within-subjects experiment with 20 participants performing a target selection task on a commercial gamepad with symmetrical thumbsticks, with targets arranged in two concentric arrays s (radii of 0.5 and 1.0) at eight directions. A total of 19,200 trials were collected across both hands. Endpoint distributions revealed systematic directional biases that varied with target location. While bilateral symmetry was preserved across most target locations, a distinct rotational shift emerged along the vertical axis: clockwise for the left hand and counterclockwise for the right hand. Subjective difficulty ratings further indicated that transitions involving inner targets were significantly more difficult than those toward outer targets. These findings supports previous empirical grounding for designing direction-aware transfer functions and suggest cross-hand calibration transfer in thumbstick applications.
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 21st5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Location