Seeking information in realistic books: a user study

Abstract

There are opposing views on whether readers gain any advantage from using a computer model of a 3D physical book. There is enough evidence, both anecdotal and from formal user studies, to suggest that the usual HTML or PDF presentation of documents is not always the most convenient, or the most comfortable, for the reader. On the other hand it is quite clear that while 3D book models have been prototyped and demonstrated, none are in routine use in today's digital libraries. And how do 3D book models compare with actual books? This paper reports on a user study designed to compare the performance of a practical Realistic Book implementation with conventional formats (HTML and PDF) and with physical books. It also evaluates the annotation features that the implementation provides.