I-Typed DMML: A Novel DSL for Direct Manipulation Interaction with Virtual Objects

Abstract

The demand for interactive applications in 3D virtual environments is increasing, but they are not easy to develop. In this article, we propose an I-Typed direct manipulation modeling language (DMML) for designing and developing interaction applications to directly manipulate virtual objects in 3D virtual environments. The I-Typed DMML consists of a domain-specific language to describe direct manipulation interaction easily and intuitively with a DMI engine that supports I-Type-based direct manipulation interaction. The feasibility of the proposed language for a variety of applications is confirmed by user study results, which demonstrate usability in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction.