Understanding Gesture Input Articulation with Upper-Body Wearables for Users with Upper-Body Motor Impairments

We examine touchscreen stroke-gestures and mid-air motion-gestures articulated by users with upper-body motor impairments with devices worn on the wrist, finger, and head. We analyze users’ gesture input performance in terms of production time, articulation consistency, and kinematic measures, and contrast the performance of users with upper-body motor impairments with that of a control group of users without impairments. Our results, from two datasets of 7,290 stroke-gestures and 3,809 motion-gestures collected from 28 participants, reveal that users with upper-body motor impairments take twice as much time to produce stroke-gestures on wearable touchscreens compared to users without impairments, but articulate motion-gestures equally fast and with similar acceleration. We interpret our findings in the context of ability-based design and propose ten implications for accessible gesture input with upper-body wearables for users with upper-body motor impairments.