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Hardware and software advances are making real-time 3D graphics part of all mainstream computers. World Wide Web sites encoded in Virtual Reality Modeling Language or other formats allow users across the Internet to share virtual 3D ‘worlds’. As the supporting software and hardware become increasingly powerful, the usability of the current 3D navigation interfaces becomes the limiting factor to the wide-spread application of 3D technologies. In this paper, we analyze the human factors issues in designing a usable navigation interface, including interface metaphor, integration and separation of multiple degrees of freedom, mode switching, isotonic versus isometric control, seamless merger of the 3D navigation devices with the GUI pointing and scrolling devices, and two-handed input. We propose a dual joystick navigation interface design based on a real-world metaphor (bulldozer), and present an …