Skip to main content
Log in

Evaluation of in-air hand gestures interaction for older people

  • Long Paper
  • Published:
Universal Access in the Information Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In-air gestural interfaces are gaining popularity due to the increasing availability and low cost of gesture recognition hardware. However, the current literature mainly focuses either on the young adult user group or, when focusing on older people, most studies limit the focus to physical activity or gaming contexts. The suitability of in-air gestural interactions for seniors to control graphical user interfaces in general remains largely unknown. Moreover, since gestural interfaces are considered easy and natural to use, they may represent an advantageous interaction modality for older people. In this study, the authors evaluate the usability of in-air hand gestures for seniors to interact with generic graphical user interfaces. A user study was conducted with 40 participants, where two types of tasks were evaluated: navigation and selection. For each task, two alternative gestures were evaluated: Swipe and Grab and Drag for navigation tasks; Point and Hold and Point and Push for selection tasks. Both qualitative and quantitative feedbacks were gathered, and then, each alternative gesture was systematically compared. Almost all participants (97 %) completed the navigation and selection tasks with at least one gesture, finding this type of interaction enjoyable to use. From the results and observations, the authors propose a set of design implications that future developers can take into account when developing hand gestural interactions for older people.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Benko, H., Wilson, A., Baudisch, P.: Precise selection techniques for multi-touch screens. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1263–1272. ACM (2006)

  2. Bobeth, J., Schmehl, S., Kruijff, E., Deutsch, S., Tscheligi, M.: Evaluating performance and acceptance of older adults using freehand gestures for TV menu control. In: Proceeding of EuroiTV ’12, pp. 35–44. ACM , New York, NY, USA (2012)

  3. Bailly, G., Walter, R., Müler, J., Ning, T., Lecolinet, E.: Comparing free hand menu techniques for distant displays using linear, marking and finger-count menus. INTERACT’11 Proceedings of the 13th IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, vol. Part II, pp. 248–262 (2011)

  4. Chen, M.-yu, Mummert, L., Pillai, P., Hauptmann, A., Sukthankar, R.: Controlling your TV with gestures. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Multimedia Information Retrieval, pp. 405–408 (2010)

  5. Cody, M.J., Dunn, D., Hoppin, S., Wendt, P.: Silver surfers: training and evaluating internet use among older adult learners. Commun. Educ. 48(4), 269–286 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Correia, A., Miranda, L., Hornung, H.: Gesture-based interaction in domotic environments: state of the art and HCI framework inspired by the diversity. In: Kotzé, P., Marsden, G., Lindgaard, G., Wesson, J., Winckler, M. (eds) Human-Computer Interaction-INTERACT, pp. 300–317. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg (2013)

  7. Crabtree, A., Benford, S., Greenhalgh, C., Tennent, P., Chalmers, M., Brown, B.: Supporting ethnographic studies of ubiquitous computing in the wild. In: Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, pp. 60–69. ACM (2006)

  8. Eurostat: Population structure and ageing. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Population_structure_and_ageing#Trends_of_population_ageing_in_the_EU

  9. Francese, R., Passero, I., Tortora, G.: Wiimote and Kinect: gestural user interfaces add a natural third dimension to HCI. In: Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces, AVI 2012, pp. 116–123. ACM (2012)

  10. Gallo, L., Placitelli, A., Ciampi, M.: Controller-free exploration of medical image data: experiencing the Kinect. In: Computer-Based Medical Systems (CBMS), 2011 24th International Symposium on, pp. 1–6. IEEE (2011)

  11. Ganesan, S., Anthony, L.: Using the kinect to encourage older adults to exercise: a prototype. In: CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '12), pp. 2297–2302. ACM, New York (2012)

  12. Gerling, K., Livingston, I., Nacke, L., Mandryk, R.: Full-body motion-based game interaction for older adults. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1873–1882. ACM (2012)

  13. Gerling, K., Dergousoff, K., Mandryk, R.: Is movement better?: comparing sedentary and motion-based game controls for older adults. In: Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2013, pp. 133–140. Canadian Information Processing Society (2013)

  14. Hassani, A., Dijk, B., Ludden, G., Eertink, H.: Touch versus in-air hand gestures: Evaluating the acceptance by seniors of human-robot interaction. In: Keyson, D., Maher, M., Streitz, N. (eds.) Ambient Intelligence, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 7040, pp. 309–313. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2011)

  15. Henze, N., Löcken, A., Boll, S., Hesselmann, T., Pielot, M.: Free-Hand Gestures for Music Playback: Deriving Gestures with a User-Centred Process. In: MUM’10, pp. 1–10, ACM (2010)

  16. Hummels, C., Stapers, P. J.: Meaningful gestures for human computer interaction. In: Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (1998)

  17. Jung, Y., Li, K. J., Janissa, N. S., Gladys, W. L. C., Lee, K. M.: Games for a better life: effects of playing wii games on the well-being of seniors in a long-term care facility. In: Proceedings of the Sixth Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, IE 2009, pp. 5:1–5:6. New York, NY, USA, ACM (2009)

  18. Kim, H., Jeong, K., Kim, S., Han, T.: Ambient Wall: Smart Wall Display Interface which can be Controlled by Simple Gesture for Smart Home. In: SA’11, pp. 1–2, Hong Kong, China (2011)

  19. Kim, D., Kim, D.: An Intelligent Smart Home Control Using Body Gestures. In: ICHIT’06, pp. 439–446, IEEE (2006)

  20. Maidi, M., Preda, M.: Interactive media control using natural interaction-based Kinect. Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 2013 IEEE International Conference on. IEEE (2013)

  21. Malizia, A., Bellucci, A.: The artificiality of natural user interfaces. Commun. ACM 55(3), 36–38 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Namazi, K.H., McClintic, M.: Computer use among elderly persons in long-term care facilities. Educ. Gerontol. 29(6), 535–550 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Nichols, T.A., Rogers, W.A., Fisk, A.D.: Design for ageing. In: Salvendy, G. (ed.) Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics, pp. 1418–1458. John Wiley, Hoboken (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Oh, O., Jung, Y., Cho, Y., Hahm, C., Sin, H., Lee, J.: Hands-up: Motion Recognition Using Kinect and a Ceiling to Improve the Convenience of Human Life. In: CHI EA’12, pp. 1655–1660. Texas, USA (2012)

  25. PaeLife: Personal Assistant to Enhance the Social Life of Seniors. http://www.paelife.eu

  26. Panger, G.: Kinect in the Kitchen: Testing Depth Camera Interactions in Practical Home Environments. In: CHI’12, pp. 1985–1990, ACM (2012)

  27. Rodrigues, É., Carreira, M., Gonçalves, D.: Developing a multimodal interface for the elderly. Proced. Comput. Sci. 27, 359–368 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Saldanha, N., Avelar, J., Dias, M., Teixeira, A., Gonçalves, D., Bonnet, E., Lan, K., Németh, G., Csobánka, P., Kolesinski, A. A Personal Life Assistant for “Natural” Social Interaction: the PaeLife Project. AAL Forum (2013)

  29. Saposnik, G., Mamdani, M., Bayley, M., Thorpe, K.E., Hall, J., Cohen, L.G., Teasel, lR: Clinical trial protocols effectiveness of virtual reality exercises in stroke re-habilitation (EVREST): rationale, design, and protocol of a pilot randomized clinical trial assessing the Wii gaming system. Int. J. Stroke 5(2), 47–51 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Schieber, F.: Impact of technology on successful aging. In: Charness, N., Schaie, K.W. (eds.) Human Factors and Aging: Identifying and Compensating for Age-related Deficits in Sensory and Cognitive Function, pp. 42–84. Springer, Berlin (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Stannus, S., Rolf, D., Lucieer, A., Chinthammit, W.: Gestural navigation in google earth. In: Proceedings of the 23rd Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference, pp. 269–272. ACM (2011)

  32. Stone, R.: Mobile touch interfaces for the elderly. Paper presented at the IADIS International Conference ICT, Society and Human Beings 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2008)

  33. Teixeira, A., Hämäläinen, A., Avelar, J., Almeida, N., Németh, G., Fegyó, T., Zainkó, C., Csapó, T., Tóth, B., Oliveira, A.: Speech-centric multimodal interaction for easy-to-access online services-a personal life assistant for the elderly. Proced. Comput. Sci. 27, 389–397 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Venkatesh, V., Bala, H.: Technology acceptance model 3 and a research agenda on interventions. Decis. Sci. 39, 273–315 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT): individual Grant SFRH/BD/72735/2010; project PAELife AAL/0014/2009; and project PEst-OE/EEI/LA0021/2013. The authors would like to thank the ActivAgeing Living Lab of Troyes University of Technology for hosting the French user tests in their facilities. Thank you also to Bay Zoltán Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research for hosting the Hungarian user tests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Gonçalves.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Carreira, M., Ting, K.L.H., Csobanka, P. et al. Evaluation of in-air hand gestures interaction for older people. Univ Access Inf Soc 16, 561–580 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-016-0483-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-016-0483-y

Keywords

Navigation