A multi-touch enabled human-transporter metaphor for virtual 3D traveling

In this tech-note we demonstrate how multi-touch hand gestures in combination with foot gestures can be used to perform navigation tasks in interactive 3D environments. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are well suited as a complex testbed for evaluation of user interfaces based on multi-modal input. Recent developments in the area of interactive surfaces enable the construction of low-cost multi-touch displays and relatively inexpensive sensor technology to detect foot gestures, which allows to explore these input modalities for virtual reality environments. In this tech-note, we describe an intuitive 3D user interface metaphor and corresponding hardware, which combine multi-touch hand and foot gestures for interaction with spatial data.