A Thumb Stroke-Based Virtual Keyboard for Sight-Free Text Entry on Touch-Screen Mobile Phones

The use of QWERTY on most of the current mobile devices for text entry usually requires users’ full visual attention and both hands, which is not always possible due to situational or physical impairments of users. Prior research has shown that users prefer to hold and interact with a mobile device with a single hand when possible, which is challenging and poorly supported by current mobile devices. We propose a novel thumb-stroke based keyboard called ThumbStroke, which can support both sight-free and one-handed text entry on touch-screen mobile devices. Selecting a character for text entry via ThumbStroke completely relies on the directions of thumb movements at anywhere on a device screen. We evaluated ThumbStroke through a longitudinal lab experiment including 20 sessions with 13 participants. ThumbStroke shows advantages in typing accuracy and user perceptions in comparison to Escape and QWERTY and results in faster typing speed than QWERTY for sight-free text entry

Pickup usability dominates: a brief history of mobile text entry research and adoption

Text entry on mobile devices (e.g. phones and PDAs) has been a research challenge since devices shrank below laptop size: mobile devices are simply too small to have a traditional full-size keyboard. There has been a profusion of research into text entry techniques for smaller keyboards and touch screens: some of which have become mainstream, while others have not lived up to early expectations. As the mobile phone industry moves to mainstream touch screen interaction we will review the range of input techniques for mobiles, together with evaluations that have taken place to assess their validity: from theoretical modelling through to formal usability experiments. We also report initial results on iPhone text entry speed

Multidimensional Pareto optimization of touchscreen keyboards for speed, familiarity and improved spell checking

The paper presents a new optimization technique for keyboard layouts based on Pareto front optimization. We used this multifactorial technique to create two new touchscreen phone keyboard layouts based on three design metrics: minimizing finger travel distance in order to maximize text entry speed, a new metric to maximize the quality of spell correction quality by minimizing neighbouring key ambiguity, and maximizing familiarity through a similarity function with the standard Qwerty layout. The paper describes the optimization process and resulting layouts for a standard trapezoid shaped keyboard and a more rectangular layout. Fitts' law modelling shows a predicted 11% improvement in entry speed without taking into account the significantly improved error correction potential and the subsequent effect on speed. In initial user tests typing speed dropped from approx. 21wpm with Qwerty to 13wpm (64%) on first use of our layout but recovered to 18wpm (85%) within four short trial sessions, and was still improving. NASA TLX forms showed no significant difference on load between Qwerty and our new layout use in the fourth session. Together we believe this shows the new layouts are faster and can be quickly adopted by users

Pinch Keyboard: Natural Text Input for Immersive Virtual Environments

Text entry may be needed for system control tasks in immersive virtual environments, but no efficient and usable techniques exist. We present the pinch keyboard interaction technique, which simulates a standard QWERTY keyboard using Pinch Gloves™ and 6 DOF trackers. The system includes visual and auditory feedback and a simple method of calibration

Next generation keyboards: The importance of cognitive compatibility

The computer keyboard of today is essentially the same as it has been for many years. Few advances have been made in keyboard design even though computer systems in general have made remarkable progress in improvements. This paper discusses the future of keyboards, their competition and compatibility with voice input systems, and possible special-application intelligent keyboards for controlling complex systems

Are Split Tablet Keyboards Better? A Study of Soft Keyboard Layout and Hand Posture

acceptedVersio

Ergonomic, adaptable keyboard for fast data entry on mobile computing devices

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 22-24).The usefulness of modem portable computational devices such as cellular phones and portable digital assistants (PDAs) is currently limited by the lack of an effective method for text entry. The currently available input options (such as the 12-key phone pad and PDA touch screens) are a quarter to a third of the speed of the standard desktop QWERTY keyboards. Therefore, it is slow and frustrating for people to use these systems for any significant text input, such as writing emails, taking notes in a meeting, or writing down thoughts while on-the-go. The proposed solution is a one-handed, hand-held, wireless, portable keyboard that would allow the mobile device user to achieve speeds closer to the desktop standard while performing text-entry tasks. Previously developed handheld input devices employ unfamiliar typing systems, are too large, or are not ergonomically comfortable, which may be the reasons they have not been widely adopted by the public. The device described in this paper is small enough to store in one's pocket, is inconspicuous during use, and is adjustable so that the keys reach the fingers in their natural curved position. One interface point allows each finger to control multiple buttons thereby preventing the fingers from, needing to move into uncomfortable positions.(cont.) These features were incorporated into a prototype that proves the feasibility of a compact and comfortable hand-held keyboard. The device also has potential as an ergonomic replacement to the standard desktop keyboard. Unlike traditional keyboards it allows the typist to be relaxed and mobile eliminating some risk factors for repetitive strain injury.by Alexander Mekelburg.S.B