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This paper reports several results from an on-going research program designed to examine the utility of alternate input device technologies for 3-dimensional (3-D) computer display workstations. In this paper, operator performance levels on a 3-D cursor-positioning task were compared using three input devices: (1) a trackball that allowed unrestricted (i.e., free-space) movements within the display space, (2) a mouse that provided selectable two-axis (i.e., plane) movements, and (3) a set of thumbwheels that provided separate controls for orthogonal single-axis (i.e., vector) movements. In addition, the input device evaluation was conducted for two operationally distinct 3-D display techniques: (1) a linear perspective encoding of image depth information and (2) a field-sequential stereoscopic encoding of depth information. Results are discussed in terms of input device selection and general design considerations for the user interface to 3-D computer workstations.
Beaton et al. (Tue,) studied this question.