Comparative Evaluation of Gesture and Touch Input for Medical Software

Abstract

The interaction with medical software during interventions challenges physicians due to the limited space and the necessary sterility. Current input modalities such as touch screen control present a direct, natural interaction which addresses usability aspects but do not consider these challenges. A promising input modality is freehand gesture interaction, which allows sterile input and a possibly larger interaction space. This work compares gesture and touch input regarding task duration to perform typical intervention tasks and intuitiveness. A user study with ten medical students shows mostly significantly better results for touch screen interaction. Despite the advantages of freehand gestures, it is debatable whether these can compensate the better efficiency and usability results of touch screen interaction in the operating room.