Hardware-Embedded Pointing Transfer Function Capable of Canceling OS Gains

Abstract

When using indirect pointing devices in modern operating systems (OS), users' perception of the pointing transfer function is easily influenced by the device's hardware or OS-native transfer function settings. This could hinder users from finding and fully adapting to the transfer function that is optimal for them. We propose a novel hardware-embedded transfer function technique that is expected to allow users to consistently experience the desired function even when device hardware or OS settings change. The technique (1) allows users to define the desired function within the device firmware in physical units and (2) enables the firmware to cancel out the influence of OS-native functions and hardware setting perturbations, so that the uploaded function can persist regardless of the external environment. Through technical evaluation including transfer functions of various shapes, we showed that the proposed technique has comparable robustness and accuracy to the conventional approach. © 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).