Exploring Eyes-free Bezel-initiated Swipe on Round Smartwatches

Bezel-based gestures expand the interaction space of touch-screen devices (e.g., smartphones and smartwatches). Existing works have mainly focused on bezel-initiated swipe (BIS) on square screens. To investigate the usability of BIS on round smartwatches, we design six different circular bezel layouts, by dividing the bezel into 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 segments. We evaluate the user performance of BIS on these layouts in an eyes-free situation. The results show that the performance of BIS is highly orientation dependent, and varies significantly among users. Using the Support-Vector-Machine (SVM) model significantly increases the accuracy on 6-, 8-, 12-, and 16-segment layouts. We then compare the performance of personal and general SVM models, and find that personal models significantly improve the accuracy for 8-, 12-, 16-, and 24-segment layouts. Lastly, we discuss the potential smartwatch applications enabled by the BIS.