{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T14:20:52Z","timestamp":1781533252200,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777593600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"EU","award":["2024-1-MT01-KA220-HED-000246701"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024-1-MT01-KA220-HED-000246701"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100023652","name":"University of Rijeka","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["uniri-iz-25-198"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["uniri-iz-25-198"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100023652","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["uniri-iz-25-198"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["uniri-iz-25-198"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05r8dqr10","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MTI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Fitts\u2019 law is a foundational model for predicting pointing performance and has been increasingly explored in immersive virtual reality (VR) environments. This paper presents a controlled experimental framework for deriving modality-specific Fitts\u2019 law models in VR and evaluating their predictive transfer to applied interaction tasks. The framework comprises two scenarios. The first replicates a standardized ISO 9241 pointing task in a 3D virtual environment to derive predictive movement time models by systematically varying target distance (20\u201350 cm), target size (2.5\u20135 cm), and spatial configuration (0\u2218, 45\u2218, 90\u2218, 135\u2218). The second simulates an applied warehouse-inspired task involving tool sorting and structured placement actions to evaluate the generalizability of the derived models in more ecologically valid VR interactions. Thirty-two participants completed all tasks using the Meta Quest 3 headset and two interaction modalities: a handheld controller and hand tracking with gesture recognition. Results show that Fitts\u2019 law remains a strong predictor of movement time for 3D pointing in VR, with high linear fits for both the controller (R2=0.9615) and hand tracking (R2=0.9668). However, models derived from standardized pointing tasks showed limited transferability to applied object-manipulation scenarios, producing prediction errors of approximately 27\u201335% and systematically underestimating movement times. Additionally, both objective metrics and subjective evaluations indicated that controller-based interaction outperformed hand tracking in efficiency, accuracy, perceived workload, and usability. These findings highlight both the robustness and limitations of Fitts-based performance modeling in realistic VR interaction contexts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mti10050049","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T16:54:07Z","timestamp":1777654447000},"page":"49","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Empirical Validation of Fitts\u2019 Law in Virtual Reality: Modeling, Prediction, and Modality Comparison"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-5954-6313","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikolina","family":"Rodin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1274-8636","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dario","family":"Ogrizovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Rijeka, Studentska ulica 2, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5430-6724","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luka","family":"Batisti\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia"},{"name":"Center for Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity, University of Rijeka, R. Matejcic 2, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3456-8369","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandi","family":"Ljubic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia"},{"name":"Center for Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity, University of Rijeka, R. Matejcic 2, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"381","DOI":"10.1037\/h0055392","article-title":"The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement","volume":"47","author":"Fitts","year":"1954","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"MacKenzie, I.S., and Buxton, W. (1992, January 3\u20137). 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