Collaboration strategies for drag-and-drop interaction with multiple devices

Abstract

ManyMouse is a software tool that revisits the ability of multiple users to collaborate by connecting their personal independent mouse hardware to a shared computer. This tool, implemented at the system level, assigns each input device to its own simulated mouse cursor, extending the potential for collaboration to any application. ManyMouse is currently being used as a platform to explore various coordination strategies and assess their impact on learning potential. Previous work on this topic has largely focused on inferring a group’s intention from the relative positioning of the mouse pointers. This work attempts to extend those ideas to include coordination of direct actions such as drag-and-drop.