Sticky and Magnetic: Evaluating Error Correction and User Adaptation in Gaze and Pinch Interaction
2026-03-27 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer InteractionEmerging Technologies
AI summaryⓘ
The authors studied how people interact in virtual reality using a method where they look at something and pinch their fingers to select it. They found errors happen when the timing between looking and pinching doesn't match, called early and late triggers. To fix early triggers, they tested two ideas: making the system hold on to targets longer (STICKY) and creating a magnetic-like pull to targets (MAGNETIC). Their study showed these methods reduced errors without slowing down users, and MAGNETIC made people choose faster but with less accuracy. The authors suggest these approaches can help make VR interactions smoother and give users more control.
gaze-and-pinchvirtual realitycoordination errorsearly triggerslate triggersSTICKY selectionMAGNETIC selectionspatial computinginteraction heuristicsuser behavior
Authors
Jazmin Collins, Prasanthi Gurumurthy, Eric J. Gonzalez, Mar Gonzalez-Franco
Abstract
The gaze-and-pinch framework offers a high-fidelity interaction modality for spatial computing in virtual reality (VR), yet it remains vulnerable to coordination errors--timing misalignments between gaze fixation and pinch gestures. These errors are categorized into two types: late triggers (gaze leaves a target before pinch) and early triggers (pinch before gaze arrival on target). While late triggers are well-studied, early triggers lack robust solutions. We investigate two heuristics--STICKY selection (temporal buffer) and MAGNETIC selection (spatial field)--to mitigate these errors. A within-subjects study (N = 9) on the Samsung Galaxy XR evaluated these heuristics against a baseline. Findings indicate that while throughput and selection time remained stable, the heuristics fundamentally shifted user behavior and significantly reduced errors during selection. Notably, MAGNETIC selection induced an "offloading" effect where users traded precision for speed. Additionally, the heuristics reclassified ambiguous failures as explainable coordination errors. We provide recommendations for selection heuristics that enhance interaction speed and cognitive agency in virtual reality.