Sweet Pursuit: User Acceptance and Performance of a Smooth Pursuit controlled Candy Dispensing Machine in a Public Setting

A prototypical smooth pursuit controlled candy dispensing machine was set up in a public area and evaluated regarding performance data, self reported joy of use, learnability, perceived stress and perceived usefulness. 359 sets of user data were collected from visitors ranging from eight to 75 years. The results show an overall high rate of successful interactions (89.8%), indicating no correlation between height, age, gender or the use of corrective glasses or lenses and the ease and success of interaction. Incorrectly entered digits occurred for 36.2% of all participants, with half attributing the error to their own incorrect entry and half reporting the system to have detected a false number. Users reported a generally high joy of use and found the system easy to learn. Users indicated interest to use similar interaction technologies in public settings if privacy requirements such as protection from observers, are met.