A Text Selection Technique using Word Snapping

Conventional copy-and-paste technique for touch screen devices utilizes region handles to specify text snippet. The region handles appear so as to select the initially tapped word, and the user controls the region handles. Most of the text-selection task is performed at the boundary of words, however, the minimum movement unit of the region handle is still a character. We propose a context- sensitive text-selection method for the tablet OSs. For the initial consideration, we investigated a word-snapping method that meant a word as a minimum movement unit. From our experiment, we confirmed that the word-snapping method can significantly reduce the text-selection time if the target text consists of one or two words, and no line breaks exist.KES-2014 18th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems, September 15-17, 2014, Gdynia, Polan

A Single-Handed Partial Zooming Technique for Touch-Screen Mobile Devices

Despite its ubiquitous use, the pinch zooming technique is not effective for one-handed interaction. We propose ContextZoom, a novel technique for single-handed zooming on touch-screen mobile devices. It allows users to specify any place on a device screen as the zooming center to ensure that the intended zooming target is always visible on the screen after zooming. ContextZoom supports zooming in/out a portion of a viewport, and provides a quick switch between the partial and whole viewports. We conducted an empirical evaluation of ContextZoom through a controlled lab experiment to compare ContextZoom and the Google maps’ single-handed zooming technique. Results show that ContextZoom outperforms the latter in task completion time and the number of discrete actions taken. Participants also reported higher levels of perceived effectiveness and overall satisfaction with ContextZoom than with the Google maps’ single-handed zooming technique, as well as a similar level of perceived ease of use

A Thumb Stroke-Based Virtual Keyboard for Sight-Free Text Entry on Touch-Screen Mobile Phones

The use of QWERTY on most of the current mobile devices for text entry usually requires users’ full visual attention and both hands, which is not always possible due to situational or physical impairments of users. Prior research has shown that users prefer to hold and interact with a mobile device with a single hand when possible, which is challenging and poorly supported by current mobile devices. We propose a novel thumb-stroke based keyboard called ThumbStroke, which can support both sight-free and one-handed text entry on touch-screen mobile devices. Selecting a character for text entry via ThumbStroke completely relies on the directions of thumb movements at anywhere on a device screen. We evaluated ThumbStroke through a longitudinal lab experiment including 20 sessions with 13 participants. ThumbStroke shows advantages in typing accuracy and user perceptions in comparison to Escape and QWERTY and results in faster typing speed than QWERTY for sight-free text entry

Virtual Stick in Caret Positioning on Touch Screens

International audienceWe present our design exploration in the area of virtual stick controllers and a preliminary evaluation in an editing task. Virtual stick controllers are one solution to the problem of precise pointing on touch screens. They operate by using an area of the touch screen as a rate control device that moves a pointer. We implemented and evaluated this technique in a text editing context where unaided precise placement of the caret is difficult. The results showed that with large fonts and long pointing distance positioning the caret with the virtual stick is significantly slower than with conventional finger touching. On the contrary, with small fonts and short pointing distance, we noted no difference

The effect of sensory marketing elements on repurchase intention of Pakistan Airlines

This research focused on factors of sensory marketing that drives airline image and repurchase intention towards passengers of Pakistan based airline companies. This research differentiates itself from other studies as it examined the mediating role of airline image in the airline sector of a developing country. Present study also tested the moderating role of perceived price fairness and word of mouth towards repurchase intention. A cross-sectional design was followed in this research, data was collected from three airports of Pakistan. Research questionnaires were distributed among 576 passengers of Airblue and PIA using judgmental sampling approach. PLS-SEM analysis approach was utilized in this study. The results of the present study found that visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, touch stimuli and gustatory stimuli have positive relationship with airline image. The results also supported mediating role of airline image between visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, gustatory stimuli, touch stimuli and repurchase intention. Moreover, perceived price fairness moderates between airline image and repurchase intention. The findings of the present study provide important insights to airline industry researcher, marketers and policy makers. The marketers of airline industry can get guidance to design effective marketing strategy by focusing on sensory marketing factors. On the other hand, policy makers can enhance growth of Pakistan based airline firms by following the recommendations of the study. The research also highlights the limitations and implications of the study as well as suggestions for future research are mentioned as well