Usability Comparison of Mouse-Based Interaction Techniques for Predictable 3d Rotation

Due to the progress in computer graphics hardware high resolution 3d models may be explored at interactive frame rates, and facilities to explore them are a part of modern radiological workstations and therapy planning systems. Despite their advantages, 3d visualizations are only employed by a minority of potential users and even these employ 3d visualizations for a few selected tasks only. We hypothesize that this results from a lack of intuitive interaction techniques for 3d rotation. In this paper, we compare existing techniques with respect to design principles derived by clinical applications and present results of an empirical study. These results are relevant beyond clinical applications and strongly suggest that the presented design principles are crucial for comfortable and predictable interaction techniques for 3d rotation.