Four Replications of a User-Defined Gesture Study with Smart Rings

Empirical findings in gesture-based interaction often stem from highly controlled experimental settings, which raises concerns about their generalizability. To explore how variations in such settings influence discoveries on user-defined gestures, we selected an end-user elicitation study involving smart rings that had been replicated at least once. By reusing the same stimuli, equipment, and data collection method, we conducted four new replications of the original study, involving a total of 120 participants across four different research teams. Our results show that smart ring gestures elicited in these replications overlap only partially, with differences in agreement rate, thinking time, and goodness of fit with corresponding system functions. We argue that systematic replication of gesture elicitation studies is essential for generalizable gesture sets.