Flying at Your Fingertips: Input Mapping Strategies for Fingertip Force-Based 3D Locomotion

Achieving intuitive yet precise 3D locomotion remains a challenge in Human Computer Interaction; joystick-based control requires extensive training, while body-motion interfaces suffer from fatigue and spatial constraints. Fingertip force input offers a promising alternative by combining minimal physical displacement with high-dimensional control, yet optimal strategies for mapping force to 3D movement remain unexplored. This study systematically evaluates five mapping strategies for 4DoF locomotion (3 translational axes + yaw) to establish design guidelines for force-based interfaces. Through a tunnel-passing experiment comparing a standard gamepad against four force-input mappings, we demonstrate that directly replicating standard joystick mappings on force devices significantly degrades performance due to inherent cross-axis interference. In contrast, our proposed “wheel-like” redundant mapping, which integrates 6DoF force inputs from both thumbs, achieved performance parity with gamepads while yielding superior ratings for intuitiveness and embodiment. These findings provide a critical design implication: effective force input interfaces should not emulate displacement-based controls but instead leverage redundancy and real-world metaphors to balance precision, intuitiveness, and physical demand.