Empirical Evaluation of Traditional vs. Hybrid Interaction Metaphors in a Multitask Healthcare Simulation

We present the results of a user study performed within a multitask healthcare simulation, where nurses are required to care for virtual patients within a 3D virtual environment while recording data in a 2D graphical user interface (GUI) based electronic health record system, presented in a dual display visual layout. We evaluated whether a traditional interaction metaphor of mouse and keyboard for both virtual and GUI sub-systems of our simulation was superior in terms of user preference and performance to a hybrid interaction metaphor of using touch screen for the virtual environment while using mouse and keyboard for the GUI. We investigated the hybrid interaction metaphor due to its potential to provide a natural touch-based engagement for our trainees with the virtual patient and the 3D environment, while maintaining a familiar interaction metaphor of a keyboard and mouse for user input in the electronic health record view of the simulation. User preference and performance both indicate that the traditional interaction metaphor was more usable than the hybrid interaction metaphor, although each interaction technique was sufficiently usable for accomplishing simulation goals.