GENIE: A Computer-Based Task for Experiments in Human-Computer Interaction.

The results of many human-computer interaction studies are often not generalizable because the task environment in which they are run does not posssess characteristics common to other interfaces. In this paper we describe a generalized task environment that is directly applicable to several interesting real-world tasks, and that contains elements appearing in almost every system having a human-computer interface. The environment is implemented through a software system called GENIE (Generic Environment for Interactive Experiments), and is based on controlling the motion of vehicle through three-dimensional space. Aside from providing a task with common characteristics, GENIE's implementation was designed to allow for adaptation to a variety of studies. The user's interface to the system has been constructed in such a way as to minimize the effort necessary for change. The paper first describes the development of the GENIE software system and then presents its structure. The user's view of the system is discussed followed by a presentation of the facilities available to the experimenter. Software components of the system are described from a functional level, and finally, three example experiments that use the system are described. (Author)