Does Motion Intensity Impair Cognition in HCI? The Critical Role of Physical Motion-Visual Target Directional Congruency

TL;DR

This study investigates how physical motion affects visual cue perception in HCI, finding that motion intensity hampers reaction times mainly due to lateral interference, while directional congruency enhances performance, with implications for mobile system design.

Contribution

It reveals the distinct effects of motion components on cognition in HCI, emphasizing the importance of directional congruency and interference management for improved interaction.

Findings

Increased motion intensity lengthens reaction times.

Lateral interference from motion impairs performance, especially in motion sickness-prone individuals.

Directional congruency improves visual response accuracy.

Abstract

Human-computer interaction (HCI) increasingly occurs in motion-rich environments. The ability to accurately and rapidly respond to directional visual cues is critical in these contexts. How whole-body motion and individual differences affect human perception and reaction to these directional cues is therefore a key, yet an underexplored question for HCI. This study used a 6-DOF motion platform to measure task performance on a visual direction judgment task. We analyzed performance by decomposing the complex motion into two distinct components: a task-irrelevant lateral interference component and a task-aligned directional congruency component. Results indicate that increased motion intensity lengthened reaction times. This effect was primarily driven by the lateral interference component, and this detrimental impact was disproportionately amplified for individuals with high motion sickness susceptibility. Conversely, directional congruency, where motion direction matched the visual cue, improved performance for all participants. These findings suggest that motion's impact on cognition is not monolithic, and that system design for mobile HCI can be informed by strategies that actively shape motion, such as minimizing lateral interference while maximizing directional congruency.