Evaluation of joystick controller operability on different operating angles

Abstract

The aim of this study was to improve the operability of joystick controllers, and an experiment was conducted in which participants operate a joystick to follow a cursor displayed on the screen. The angle of the joystick operating direction was varied in relation to the cursor movement direction. The physical workload on the thumb and joystick operability were evaluated by subjective evaluation and work performance. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in operability when the difference between the directions of joystick and cursor movement directions was 0, 30, 45 and 60 degrees. However, the operability significantly decreased when the angle difference was 90 degrees.