A human factors evaluation of selected touch entry devices

Five commercially available touch entry devices (TEDs) were the  subject of a four-phase comprehensive assessment. Phase I consisted of the quantification of CRT-TED optical quality involving photometric measurements. Phase II involved the measurement and analysis of interactive operator performance in three generic tasks. Phase II was followed by the recording of subjective assessments of TED utility (Phase III). In Phase IV correlational analyses were conducted to relate CRT-TED system optical quality to the interactive performance measures and subjective assessments of TED utility collected in Experiment 1 of Phases II and III.

A methodology for determining display quality of CRTTED systems in a quantitative manner as well as the operational and subjective utility of TEDs is presented. The results point out that large difference in resolution and noise levels exist among the various TEDs examined. Four of the devices tended to reduce overall display resolution and three reduced display noise levels. Large differences in interactive operator performance scores and ratings of subjective utility exist as well. There is some relationship between CRT-TED optical quality and both operator performance and subjective assessments of TED utility. Moreover, the suggested quantifications of the findings should facilitate comparisons among other touch entry device systems.