Finger-count & radial-stroke shortcuts: 2 techniques for augmenting linear menus on multi-touch surfaces

We propose Radial-Stroke and Finger-Count Shortcuts, two techniques aimed at augmenting the menubar on multi-touch surfaces. We designed these multi-finger two-handed interaction techniques in an attempt to overcome the limitations of direct pointing on interactive surfaces, while maintaining compatibility with traditional interaction techniques. While Radial-Stroke Shortcuts exploit the well-known advantages of Radial Strokes, Finger-Count Shortcuts exploit multi-touch by simply counting the number of fingers of each hand in contact with the surface. We report the results of an experimental evaluation of our technique, focusing on expert-mode performance. Finger-Count Shortcuts outperformed Radial-Stroke Shortcuts in terms of both easiness of learning and performance speed.