Harpoon selection: Efficient selections for ungrouped content on large pen-based surfaces

In this paper, we present the Harpoon selection tool, a novel selection technique specifically designed for interactive whiteboards. The tool combines area cursors and crossing to perform complex selections amongst a large number of unsorted, ungrouped items. It is optimized for large-scale pen-based surfaces and works well in both dense and sparse surroundings. We describe a list of key features relevant to the design of the tool and provide a detailed description of both the mechanics as well as the feedback of the tool. The results of a user study are described and analyzed to confirm our design. The study shows that the Harpoon tool performs significantly faster than Tapping and Lassoing.