Marble Draw

The Marble Draw Interface and Game are an experimental implementation that seeks to provide a collaborative challenge to a team of two users. Inspired by a ball-in-the-maze puzzle, the interface provides two knobs to control an on-screen cursor by the tilt of a plane. The cursor movement is then translated to a line drawing in the game, which challenges users to trace a simple shape as precisely as possible. The game offers two different drawing methods, namely Cursor Placement Method and Continuous Method. The Cursor Placement Method lets users draw in line segments by allowing them to place the cursor before their existing line is connected to its position. On the other hand, the Continuous method draws a line wherever the cursor passes by. The two drawing methods, as well as the interface’s general impression, were assessed in a user study (N=4). The participants found the Cursor Placement Method to have been easier and to have allowed for more confident use while they chose the Continuous Method to have been more fun, more complex, and more challenging. The latter was also their preferred drawing method. Finally, they described the overall interface as being creative, engaging and collaborative.