Modeling of three-dimensional arm movement time — Effects of movement distance and approach angle to target

Recently, technologies on three-dimensional human interface are paid more and more attention, and a few studies related to remote manipulation technologies are reported. On the other hand, there are few studies that clarified the condition of angle and distance under which we feel the three-dimensional movement to an object easy to point. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore how the movement distance and the approach angle to the object affected the pointing movement and to model the three-dimensional movement. In the experiment, five targets were installed on the surface of a rectangular solid. The approach angle and the movement distance to the surface were controlled as experimental parameters, and thus the movement time to the target was measured. It was examined how the movement time changed as a function of the approach angle and the movement distance. As a result, the movement time tended to increase when the movement distance was short. Moreover, with the increase of approach angle, in particular, when the movement was carried out on the opposite side of a preferred hand, the movement time tended to increase. When the movement was conducted on the same side with a preferred hand, the approach angle did not affect the movement time. Moreover, it was also discussed how the hand movement trajectory affected the movement time by measuring the movement trajectory of a finger tip and comparing these between cases with longer and shorter movement times.