Effects of Computer Mouse Lift-off Distance Settings in Mouse Lifting Action

This study investigates the effect of Lift-off Distance (LoD) on a computer mouse, which refers to the height at which a mouse sensor stops tracking. Although a low LoD is generally preferred to avoid unintended cursor movement in mouse lifting (=clutching), especially in first-person shooter games, it may increase tracking errors. We conducted a psychophysical experiment to measure the perceptible differences between different LoD settings, and we quantitatively measured unintended cursor movement and tracking errors at four levels of LoD while users performed mouse lifting. The results quantified the amount of the two types of errors, which revealed the trade-off between them in the varying levels of LoD.