Are 100 ms Fast Enough? Characterizing Latency Perception Thresholds in Mouse-Based Interaction

The authors challenge the 100ms perceived-instantaneity threshold suggested in miller1968 and Usability Engineering. They perform a study and come to the following conclusion (Section 4.1 “Magnitude of Latency Perception Thresholds”):

The latency perception thresholds’ range was 34–137 ms with a mean of 65 ms (Median = 54 ms) and a standard deviation of 30 ms

Abstract

The claim that 100 ms system latency is fast enough for an optimal interaction with highly interactive computer systems has been challenged by several studies demonstrating that users are able to perceive latencies well below the 100 ms mark. Although a high amount of daily computer interactions is still characterized by mouse-based interaction, to date only few studies about latency perception thresholds have employed a corresponding interaction paradigm. Therefore, we determined latency perception thresholds in a mouse-based computer interaction task. We also tested whether user characteristics, such as experience with latency in computer interaction and interaction styles, might be related to inter-individual differences in latency perception thresholds, as results of previous studies indicate that there is considerable inter-individual variance in latency perception thresholds. Our results show that latency perception thresholds for a simple mouse-based computer interaction lie in the range of 60 ms and that inter-individual differences in latency perception can be related to user characteristics.

Reference

Valentin Forch, Thomas Franke, Nadine Rauh, Josef F. Krems “Are 100 ms Fast Enough? Characterizing Latency Perception Thresholds in Mouse-Based Interaction” (2017) DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-58475-1_4

@Inbook{forch2017,
  title = {Are 100 ms Fast Enough? Characterizing Latency Perception Thresholds in Mouse-Based Interaction},
  abstract = {The claim that 100 ms system latency is fast enough for an optimal interaction with highly interactive computer systems has been challenged by several studies demonstrating that users are able to perceive latencies well below the 100 ms mark. Although a high amount of daily computer interactions is still characterized by mouse-based interaction, to date only few studies about latency perception thresholds have employed a corresponding interaction paradigm. Therefore, we determined latency perception thresholds in a mouse-based computer interaction task. We also tested whether user characteristics, such as experience with latency in computer interaction and interaction styles, might be related to inter-individual differences in latency perception thresholds, as results of previous studies indicate that there is considerable inter-individual variance in latency perception thresholds. Our results show that latency perception thresholds for a simple mouse-based computer interaction lie in the range of 60 ms and that inter-individual differences in latency perception can be related to user characteristics.},
  doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-58475-1_4},
  booktitle = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
  publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
  author = {Forch, Valentin and Franke, Thomas and Rauh, Nadine and Krems, Josef F.},
  year = {2017},
  pages = {45–56}
}