Fifty years later: a neurodynamic explanation of Fitts' law

Beamish, Dan; Bhatti, Shabana; MacKenzie, I. Scott; Wu, Jianhong

doi:10.1098/rsif.2006.0123

Cited by 32 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…The generalization of this circuit to include delayed feedback serves as a model for the impact of delay on human motor performance (Beamish et al 2005(Beamish et al , 2006a. In fact, the speed-accuracy trade-off of the delayed VITE circuit provides a theoretical foundation for Fitts' law that is based directly on the neurodynamics of the motor circuit and explains widely reported inconsistencies of Fitts' law with experimental results as delay effects (Beamish et al 2006b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Performance limitations from delay in human and mechanical motor control

Beamish

Bhatti

et al. 2008

Biol Cybern

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We discuss natural limitations on motor performance caused by the time delay required for feedback signals to propagate within the human body or mechanical control systems. By considering a very simple delayed linear servomechanism model, we show there exists a best possible speed-accuracy trade-off similar to Fitts' law that cannot be exceeded when delay is present. This is strictly a delay effect and does not occur for the ideal case of instantaneous feedback. We then examine the performance of the vector integration to endpoint (VITE) circuit as a model of human movement and show that when this circuit is generalized to include delayed feedback the performance may not exceed that of the servomechanism with an equal delay. We suggest the existence of such a limitation may be a ubiquitous consequence of delay in motor control with the implication that the index of performance in Fitts' law cannot arbitrarily large.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Performance limitations from delay in human and mechanical motor control

Beamish

Bhatti

et al. 2008

Biol Cybern

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“…approaches (Beamish, Bhatti, MacKenzie & Wu, 2006). For the practitioner, however, most of these theories are not easy to apply in the two main uses of Fitts' law, comparing input devices and making movement time predictions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Fitts’ Law for Quantifying Combined Rotational and Translational Movements

Stoelen

Akin

2010

Hum Factors

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Objective: To develop a model for human performance in combined translational and rotational movements based on Fitts' law. Background: Fitts' law has been successfully applied to translational movements in the past, providing generalization beyond a specific task as well as performance predictions. For movements involving both translations and rotations, no equivalent theory exists, making comparisons of input devices for these movements more ambiguous. Method: The study consisted of three experiments. In the first two, participants performed either pure translational or pure rotational movements of 1 degree of freedom. The third experiment involved the same movements combined. Results: On average, the performance times for combined movements were equal to the sum of the times for equivalent separate rotational and translational movements. A simple Fitts' law equivalent for combined movements with a similar slope as the separate com-ponents was proposed. In addition, a significant degree of coordination of the combined movements was found. This had a strong bias toward a parallel execution in 12 out of 13 participants. Conclusion: Combined movements with rotations and translations of 1 degree of freedom can be approximated using a simple Fitts' law equivalent. The rotational and translational components appear to be coordinated by the central nervous system to generate a parallel execution. Application: The results may help drive human interface designs and provide insights into the coordination of combined movements. Future extensions may be possible for the movements of higher degrees of freedom used in robot teleoperation and virtual reality applications.

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“…Fitts' Law is a movement paradigm that has been studied for more than half a century (Fitts, 1954;Fitts and Peterson, 1964;Beamish et al, 2006). It is one of only two law's in the field of Human Motor Behavior, the other being Hick's Law.…”

Section: Fitts' Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%