Methods and apparatuses are described for providing a thumb scroll user interface element in a computerized visual environment. A viewing device displays a graphical user interface within a three-dimensional space that includes surface planes each associated with a graphical thumb scroll element. A sensor device captures a location of the user's hand within the three-dimensional space and a gesture of the user's hand. A computing device detects that the location is within a defined zone around one of the graphical thumb scroll elements and activates the thumb scroll element associated with the defined zone. The computing device identifies the gesture, determines a scroll speed based upon a speed of the identified gesture, and determines a scroll direction based upon a direction of the identified gesture. The computing device changes characteristics of graphical content in the surface plane based upon at least one of: the scroll speed or the scroll direction.