Mouse Augmentation using a Malleable Mouse Pad Takuro Kuribara, Buntarou Shizuki, and Jiro Tanaka. University of Tsukuba, Japan {kuribara,shizuki,jiro}@iplab.cs.tsukuba.ac.jp Abstract. We present mouse augmentation that uses a malleable mouse pad, which is named “Sinkpad”. Sinkpad augments mouse functionalities by allowing a user to sink the mouse into the pad and tilt the mouse on the pad. In addition, the user is provided with haptic feedback via the mouse on the pad. Sinkpad allows the user to perform: sink, tilt, and sink+move actions. This paper describes Sinkpad, its applications, and its evaluation. Keywords: Input device; hybrid interaction device; interaction technique; mal- leable surface; haptic feedback; window management; overlapping windows. 1 Introduction A computer mouse is an established input device for computer users. A conven- tional mouse, however, only allows simple actions such as clicking its buttons, rolling the wheel, and moving it. To enrich the input vocabulary of the mouse, many previous researches have tried to augment it with new sensing capabilities. As a different approach, we have augmented the mouse pad instead of the mouse. In this paper, we present “Sinkpad”, an augmented mouse pad that has a malleable surface consisting of an elastic material and that augments mouse functionalities by allowing the user to sink the mouse into the pad and tilt it on the pad (Fig. 1; a demonstration of Sinkpad is in [9]). It allows the user to perform interesting actions: sink, tilt, and sink+move. In addition, the pad provides the user with haptic feedback as the mouse deforms its surface. Moreover, the user can also use Sinkpad as a conventional mouse pad, because the pad serves as a flat surface unless the user sinks the mouse into it. We conducted user evaluations on two-dimensional (2D) pointing and gath- ered feedback. First, we conducted a preliminary experiment to investigate the 2D pointing accuracy. The results show that users can perform 2D pointing as accurately on Sinkpad as on a regular pad and that Sinkpad had no effect on the accuracy of 2D mouse pointing. Second, we demonstrated Sinkpad at an aca- demic workshop. We observed that all users could easily use their mice on the pad except for accidental clicks. The results of the experiment and the demon- stration show that Sinkpad is usable as a conventional mouse pad and that users can get used to the new actions quickly.