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. 2015 Oct;72(10-11):728-735.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2014.05.003.

The Design of Hand Gestures for Human-Computer Interaction: Lessons from Sign Language Interpreters

David Rempel  1 , Matt J Camilleri  1 , David L Lee  1
Affiliations

The Design of Hand Gestures for Human-Computer Interaction: Lessons from Sign Language Interpreters

David Rempel et al. Int J Hum Comput Stud. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

The design and selection of 3D modeled hand gestures for human-computer interaction should follow principles of natural language combined with the need to optimize gesture contrast and recognition. The selection should also consider the discomfort and fatigue associated with distinct hand postures and motions, especially for common commands. Sign language interpreters have extensive and unique experience forming hand gestures and many suffer from hand pain while gesturing. Professional sign language interpreters (N=24) rated discomfort for hand gestures associated with 47 characters and words and 33 hand postures. Clear associations of discomfort with hand postures were identified. In a nominal logistic regression model, high discomfort was associated with gestures requiring a flexed wrist, discordant adjacent fingers, or extended fingers. These and other findings should be considered in the design of hand gestures to optimize the relationship between human cognitive and physical processes and computer gesture recognition systems for human-computer input.

Keywords: Computer input; Computer interface; Gesture-based interaction; Multitouch; hand postures.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A model of the relationships between human cognitive and motor processes and computer gesture recognition for completion of an HCI task.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Location of metacarpophalangeal (MCP; knuckle) and interphalangeal (IP) joints. The IP joints are the two joints closest to the end of the fingers. The three joints of the thumb, from the wrist going the nail, are the carpometacarpal (CMC), metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and interphalangeal (IP) joints.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean discomfort scores (0= comfortable, 5=very uncomfortable) for hand shapes when formed repeatedly during signing. Common letters indicate significant differences. Error bars = SEM.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Rank order of 37 alphanumeric characters by mean discomfort(1)/comfort(−1) ratings.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Examples of comfortable (c) and uncomfortable (u) hand postures: (1c) fingers slightly flexed; (2c) hand in a loose fist; (3u) halt sign with wrist and fingers extended; (4u) wrist in ulnar deviation and fingers extended; (5c) loose hand pointing; (6c) thumb up; (7u) shaka sign with discordant adjacent finger postures; (8u) fingers extended and abducted (spread apart); (9c) forearm rotation to 45 degrees pronation; (10c) forearm rotation in neutral; (11u) forearm rotation to full pronation; (12u) forearm rotation to full supination.
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