Glyph: a Microgesture Notation

In the active field of hand microgestures, microgesture descriptions are typically expressed informally and are accompanied by images, leading to ambiguities and contradictions. An important step in moving the field forward is a rigorous basis for precisely describing, comparing, and analyzing microgestures. Towards this goal, we propose mu Glyph, a hybrid notation based on a vocabulary of events inspired by finger biomechanics. First, we investigate the expressiveness of mu Glyph by building a database of 118 microgestures extracted from the literature. Second, we experimentally explore the usability of mu Glyph. Participants correctly read and wrote mu Glyph descriptions 90% of the time, as compared to 46% for conventional descriptions. Third we present tools that promote mu Glyph usage, including a visual editor with LATEXexport. We finally describe how mu Glyph can guide research on designing, developing, and evaluating microgesture interaction. Results demonstrate the strong potential of mu Glyph to establish a common ground for microgesture research.