An Experimental Investigation of Magnification Lens Offset and Its Impact on Imagery Analysis

A digital lens is a user interface mechanism that is a potential solution to information mangement problems. We investigated the use of digital lensing applied to imagery analysis. Participants completed three different types of tasks (locate, follow, and compare) using a magnification lens with three different degrees of offset (aligned, adjacent, and docked) over a high-resolution aerial photo. Although no lens offset mode was significantly better than another, most participants preferred the adjacent mode for the locate and compare tasks, and the docked mode for the follow tasks. This paper describes the results of a user study of magnification lenses and provides new insights into preferences of and interactions with digital lensing.