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One-Finger Keyboarding?
adubey writes: "Forget Qwerty, forget Dvorak; the best keyboard for palmtops may well be the Fitaly One-Finger Keyboard. " Kinda nifty idea actually, I'm wondering if we'll see one that would work for a wearable PC (like maybe
this guy from IBM).
But will it work with your nose?
Does this mean that if your computer locks up, instead of the 3-finger salute, you just "give it the finger"?
Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
This sounds like a neat idea. I know I would much prefer a keyboard than the writing pad on my palm some times, and the collapsable, full sized one is too bulky and too expensive. Maybe I will think about trading my PDA up.
Free as in speech, free as in beer, or free as in lunch?
I mean, how am I supposed to do an alt-meta-shift-control-z? Oh wait, I don't have emacs on my PalmPilot, yet.
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If R is the set of all sets which don't contain themselves, does R contain itself?
Has anybody played with the demo? I'm not near a Windows box and can't get it on my palm right now.
I know, I know, I'm just a whiny geek, but what about Thumbcode? You mean I learned a whole system of typing on my hands to produce letters just so they could come up with yet another layout?!? C'mon, man! It's tough enough to learn to type on one keyboard with the continuously-shifting backslash problem, now there's ANOTHER layout?
All whining aside, however, this looks like a really ingenious step toward making wearable computers *USABLE*, as well!
"I'm not even supposed to BE here today!"
Current slogan: "Concentrate all of your typing into a 'single point of failure' with the Fitaly One-Finger Keyboard!".
Tomorrow's slogan: "You have ten fingers. So why are you typing with only one? Use the Fitaly Ten-Finger Keyboard!"
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Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
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If you've got one finger free, like your "pointer" finger, then you're quite likely to have another finger free like the one next to it. Why not design a keyboard with that in mind? Wouldn't it be even more efficient?
I'm trying to imagine a situation where a person is so bogged down that they only have one finger free. If that's the future of computing, I'll stick with inefficiently typing 100 wpm with all 10 fingers.
dwl - devils advocate always
Great! Now I'll have that other hand free for... well, you know.
-carl
. We've got computers, we're tapping phone lines, you know that ain't allowed - Talking Heads, "Life During Wartime"
There are many things best done with one finger that are best left unsaid.
This is not one of them.
We continually cheer new PDAs because of their "neat" features such as ultra high ammounts of memory, or their wireless ability. But when it really comes down to what PDA you buy, isn't the data entry interface the most important thing? I mean, if I'm sitting in a class, in order for me to take notes on a PDA, I have to enter data as fast as it's being said. With enough time to still listen and understand the lecture so that I might ask questions.
Because until the user interface on a PDA is advanced, we can't expect it to grow to it's fullest potential.
'one finger keyboard' strikes me as a euphemism along the same lines as when you buy a 'facial massager', but then I'm a huge, huge pervert.
sig:
See the "..for smart people" banners Wired runs here? Look elsewhere guys.
Using only one finger must get pretty tiring after awhile. Why limit yourself to just one finger when the majority of people have quite a few more fingers available?
but we have to entirely relearn to type. Sure i did that using my TI-85 calculator when i learned to program it but it took a while. and i relearned to write on my mindspring palmpilot with their graffiti writing style that the screen recognizes. I leaned on a QWERTY. does this mean i'll have to learn another one?
Upeo
I use the Fitaly keyboard for the Palm, and it works quite well. It takes a bit to get used to the layout, but once you learn it you can type pretty quickly. I'm much faster with it than I was with Graffity.
But I suppose.......
I imagine that there are going to be all kinds of ideas that will be tried out. Some kinda flaky.
I am reminded of the april fools joke that was offering free cars if you accepted advertising on the side of the car, etc. It has since made the news as a legit business idea in California. Not that I am surprised.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
And what about spillage ? Don't any of these guys eat or drink ?
"The reason I was speeding is.....
For all of the people who never type with more than one finger at a time to begin with...
No more qwerty hunting and pecking - now hunting and pecking will be optimized for entry with a single finger or pen!
From the title I was thinking that this was an input device though, not just a new "efficient" layout. I hope this discussion doesn't degenerate in to QWERTY vs. DVORJAK flame wars.
+++ ATH0 +++
Nice idea, but the windows version is a software program. If it locks up it ignores your finger, liked bill cared anyway..... By the way no linux version? (is there a pen version of linux?)
I mean, people are pretty accustomed to just doing whatever it is they want to do (no matter how slowly), that they may resent being forced to learn a new keyboard. Also, when you're typing with a pen or with one finger, you're not gonna be typing that fast anyway, no matter how optimized the keyboard is. So I wonder what kind of a speed increase this scheme really offers. Finally, what is wrong with the graffiti system built into current Palm Pilots?
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Stephen C. VanDahm
Sure, a one handed keyboard is great for PDAs and it better than mucking around trying to press a microscopic qwerty-based keyboard. But, it still doesn't help the fact that keyboards are just a ludcriously ineffective means of input.
I am just waiting for the day when I can talk (or even better, think) to my computer. I mean, talk about a bottle neck. (meaning my uncoordinated fingers)
What with the big gaps in the middle row? I'd like to see the side moved to eliminate those. Otherwise, you'll see a nice Windows logo there in a few years. Of course, they are missing critical keys (space, enter, a few punctuation). Nevermind the numbers, all the character above the numbers, shift, alt, ctrl......
Sounds strange.
I just got a Palm last week end and, thanks to "Giraffe", I learnt Graffiti in ten minutes.
IMHO this is the best way to have text data entered in a computer, with, maybe, voice recognition (question: how do you indent text comfortably using a voice recognition programm?).
The given URL does't lead to any valuable reason to type using only ONE finger.
If you take the device in your hand and intend to type something, you'll need your other hand or you will type slowly and you won't find it comfortable.
If you use your second hand, then, you won't be limited by one finger, except if you're one-fingered (or if you use your nose). So, instead of elaborating such gadgets that only a few one-fingered people could enjoy, why don't they start reflecting on really innovative input peripherals ?
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Trolling using another account since 2005.
The keyboard is obviously a very good input device and serves me quite well. I've been doing it long enough I can type faster then most.
.. direct input? It sure would be a lot easier to "think" what I wanted to type and have it appear.
But how far along are we in regards to
Anyone know?
Looking at the keyboard, it's obvious to me that it was designed by Pokey's arch-rival, the Italians!
But back to the point -- this isn't about one finger input, it's about pen input. Big difference. It's fast: I just bring my Palm to meetings now and don't bother with paper. I can read my notes, unlike my handwriting, and upload them to my desktop so I can store them with the rest of my electronic notes. I hate paper.
The product really works, and I just wish they could port InstantText to the Palm. Or Linux. It looks cool, but I'm not going to do my writing in Word 97 just to use it.
About time that someone came up with this idea!
Get your own Red Swingline Stapler
top 10 advantages to a one-finger keyboard:
10) easier to type "hunt-and-peckers unite!"
9) "i'm not flicking you off, i'm practicing typing on the ceiling".
8) if you get carpel tunnel in one finger, just switch fingers.
7) you can finger your computer in public without getting stared at.
6) don't have to worry about losing your career skills if you get your hand caught in the ceiling fan.
5)linux users can now finger() someone with a finger.
4) you can use two fingers to hold a donut and one to type
3) that leaves one finger left over for picking your nose
2) two words: pinky envy.
and the #1 reason to use a one-finger keyboard:
1) sometimes, there's just not enough room for two fingers.
--
What happens when you outlaw guns
I have been using Fitaly for my Palm for almost a year now. It is fairly easy to learn, and much faster than Graffiti (which I still use for the odd command or two, but nothing else). This is the 'soft' keyboard version, though I believe there is now a plastic overlay version available.
It is one of the smoothest Palm applications I have used - it integrates well with other applications, and scrolls whatever is on the screen, so the cursor is always visible. Highly recommended.
--- In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro
These people sell them, for example.
A)bort, R)etry or S)elf-destruct?
Also, I can say personally that even though I know QWERTY very well -- I type about 80 wpm -- that's with two hands. My experiences using QWERTY one-handed haven't been so positive at all, so if I were to regularly need a one-handed keyboard, I'd seriously consider something like this keyboard. Sure, you'd have to relearn a little, but that's just as difficult a transition (possibly easier) as going from two-handed QWERTY to one-handed QWERTY.
Francis Hwang
Do domain names matter?
That said, I don't see Fitaly replacing the standard mechanical keyboard. Where it might be useful, however is in touch screen devices like point-of-sale terminals or (especially) vertical-market devices for inventory tracking or insurance claims processing.
And to the people wondering what the "blank keys" to either side of "n" and "e", they're space bars, naturally.
Finally, I'm pretty sure the link in the article is obsolete. I use http://fitaly.com to get to Textware Solution's homepage frequently, and haven't seen a link to twsolutions.com in a long time.
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
It would make much more sense to use a chording keyboard for an organizer - the Microwriter AgendA supported this a long time ago, but has unfortunately been discontinued. (BTW, I haven't been able to find a description of the AgendA's chording scheme - does anyone have a link?)
For a wearable, something like the Twiddler would make much more sense. What I would really like is an updated twiddler that plugs directly into the PS/2 (or USB) port, and with a Trackpoint (like in IBM Thinkpad laptops) instead of the imprecise tilting mouse sensor.
This seems very odd to me. If you use one finger, surely that's the whole hand occupied, so why not make use of the other 4 fingers? What's more, the single finger you're using is going to be racing around the place like a mad thing, and that's going to be uncomfortable.
I prefer the idea of the Quinkey chording keyboard, which has been around since the mid 80s at least, where each finger (or thumb) stays on one of 5 home keys, and input depends on chords. I've never bothered to learn such a thing, but it seems ideal for wearables and any application where you require a hand free.
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Wow, this is even better than Microsoft's keyboard. See http://www.mackido.com/Humor/MSKeyboar d.html. Control-Alt-Delete -- what more do you need with Microsoft?
on second thought, i guess there aren't that many computer applications that ask you to enter in 'y' or 'n' as opposed to 'ok' and 'cancel'.
maybe this keyboard should have programmable keys...
visit: Eastern Suburbs Rugby Football Club's WebSite
Why did I lurk so long before registering for a Slashdot account? I could have had a Slashdot ID of less than 100000.
The Microsoft Keyboard;
http://www.attrition.org/gallery/m s/win2k-kbd.jpg
This obligitory Microsoft slam brough to you by attrition.org.
I don't know about today's computers, but I have an Apple IIc Plus in my basement that had a toggle switch that could switch between standard and Dvorak keyboard settings. Granted, you had to switch the keycaps around to match up with the Dvorak chart provided with the Apple manual, which got really annoying after a while. But it was really funny to secretly switch it to Dvorak and listen in as an unlucky user exclaimed, "The damn keyboard is broken!"
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The real Raunchola isn't cool enough to have any imposters
...but I suspect I'll eventually want to type something other than "Screw you!" at a computer.
-JDF
Thats why the key-pad basically 0wnz j00!
But does your grandmother want to have a computer?
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As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
I used Fitaly on my Palm for quite a while (until I discontinued use of the Palm, in fact). It was very easy to use and made the device a lot more useful in that I could get text in at a closer to "normal" rate. I envision future computing devices that incorporate a pen keyboard and a touch capable screen for the majority of the work. For major text needs (writing books, text mode programming/scripting, IRC) a regular ten-finger keyboard or something along those lines is obviously needed, but for web surfing, non-action games (which seem to require joysticks or such), graphics work, general GUI interaction, the Palm/Fitaly model is my preference. I like that direct interaction with the screen and like having a keyboard that is functional but does not require the hands to switch devices (from keyboard to mouse) by being part of the screen. Heck, if you're ambidextrous, the pen model makes you twice as efficient, right?
I do not have a signature
I mean, I don't know... I'm sure it would be convinient when you're trying to save space, like with the Palms, but with your tower? I just don't see how it would be a time saver, it seems to me like it would be more time consuming, having to type everything out with 1 finger or 3, when you have 10! But, well, that's just me.... :)
$ finger @twosolutions.com
finger: non-recoverable failure in name resolution.
I've written a program called gtkeyboard which uses this keyboard layout as one of its "possibilities". The keyboard is meant for all kinds of different applications (including possible wearable applications and things like keyboardless kiosks and the physically disabled).
The keyboard layout was originally given to me as the "opti" keyboard by one of the people who contributed code to the project. It actually is quite good for using a keyboard with one finger, or in the case of gtkeyboard, with the mouse, which is functionally equivalent to one finger really.
It is quite a good design, putting the spaces pretty much everywhere so that you can get to them from any key. With an average word length of 5 in English, it pretty much means that rougly 18-20% of your keystrokes are going to be spaces. Makes sense to have them in a convenient place, eh?
Most people wouldn't believe how much research goes into making these things the way they are. With this keyboard, they did a lot of tests training people to use it. As was expected, at the beginning people were actually a bit slower with it than with a qwerty keyboard because they didn't know where the keys were. As time went on though, they were able to VASTLY improve their speed over even the best speeds with qwerty. (remember, we're talking one finger here, not 10)
-- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
Ken Perlin (of Perlin noise fame) has developed this technology called Quikwriting that seems to facilitate a one-handed interface better than anything I've seen. I know it's not a keyboard, and I know it's yet another code you'd have to learn how to use, but it appears to me to be the most efficient techonology in this neighborhood. While you're at his site, you should check out his other user interface considerations.
I'm curious, what does Windoze CE use? Does it
just display a keyboard, or has M$ "innovated" their own version of Graffiti
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
...It's called the Morse code telegraph. :)
As a Fitaly and FitalyStamp user, I can say that the Fitaly keyboard is great, and it enables the palm to be useful for things like note-taking that Graffiti is IMO too slow for. I can manage 50+ wpm with my palm down on a table and typing english prose.
However, it does have its drawbacks:
Subj!
I used it on my Newton 4 years ago, and I know it's been out longer than that. Granted, it's a clever solution when you don't have handwriting recognition, so we'll probably see more uses for stuff like this (although T9 is probably a better solution for phones). It is nice, but I can click fast enough on QWERTY, and my Newt _does_ have HRW...
this'll be just perfect for those one-handed web surfers...
Problem is, 15 cpm is a little slow for data input.
dahdidahdidah
If I'm sitting in my cubicle at work, I just can't see myself speaking out loud "Dear Honeybunch: Smoochie smoochie. Love your teddy bear", or "Mom, the doctor says I have cancer", or "My account number is 235655324". Even normal, nonprivate communication would become a burden, if everyone is speaking to their machines aloud all day long. Noise levels would become unbearable.
The keyboard/mouse combo definitely isn't the ultimate interface, but voice isn't either. An argument could be made for thought-recognition, but I think we're a long way from that yet. For now, I'll stick to my keyboard and mouse.
I know - my palm has been 'Optimized for One-Finger Entry' for years...
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The harder you look the less you see. That's what we're up against.
Perhaps a slightly modified Morse Code is in order. We can add some formatting characters and a couple of slight hacks to good ol' Morse's Code and we have a very easy to use interface for wearables that does not require the user to look at what they're typing.
The use of a sticky key code can allow for character combinations. Uppercase and lowercase could be handled either contextually by the computer or through a modified capslock/shift combo code. For caps lock we use sticky key code + shift code, for shift key we use shift code (which by the nature of it's intended use should be defaulted to sticky)
I can imagine now, people everywhere absent mindedly tapping out emails and writing down notes while walking down the street. The additional benefit of only needing to learn a few additional modified codes if you already know Morse Code (and *who* doesn't know Morse Code?) allows for users to adapt quickly to the interface as well as learn a useful (if albeit slightly modified) standard already in place.
Dan O'Shea
The Ghost of Samuel Morse looks kindly upon thee...
With this kind of keyboard, we'll be able to double the data entry across the industry.
After several hundred years, we'll be hemispherical dual-use brained by evolution.
Thanks Darwin!
I used this for the Palm, but I found graffiti to be faster and more accurate (particularly combined with TealScript to customize the glyphs).
However, I was just thinking, this layout might make an excellent one-handed conventional keyboard for a PC. Just air-typing, it seems very natural; you'd probably need some kind of shift to do punctuation, though.
Having a nine-month-old, sometimes a one-handed keyboard would come in VERY handy...
I wonder why nobody (at 2+) mentioned this to be absoluetly dependent on the english language. While qwerty has it's drawbacks, you can adapt it easily to any script using latin characters and not quite easily to any script using a similar alphabet. To use Fitaly with anything but English is stupid.
Censorship on Slashdot
With the standard qwerty layout, not only do you have to look at the Palm, you have to often move your hand rather than just the pen. Fitaly puts all the keys within easy reach with minimum movement. You even get used to some of the more common letter combinations which can jack up your speed. This only makes sense, since qwerty was designed to put common letters on different hands (i.e., far away from each other) while fitaly was designed to center the most common letters.
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Heh... You don't wanna know what "pico" means in Chili and a few other spanish-speaking countries... I can tell you it's a four letter word that starts with "d" and ends with "ick"..
Thank you.
//Frisco
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$HOME is where the
-- silver_p
people are pretty accustomed to just doing whatever it is they want to do (no matter how slowly), that they may resent being forced to learn a new keyboard
If this was for normal operations, I would agree. But this is for Palms and other such small computers. In that situation, you really need an input optimized for one-finger/pen typing. I think that if people are willing to put up with the quirks of Graffiti, they will put up with this.
So I wonder what kind of a speed increase this scheme really offers. Finally, what is wrong with the graffiti system built into current Palm Pilots
Speed apears to be about 50 WPM for most people. That even goes for people who have trubble typing on a QWERTY.
As for Graffiti, well, I've had a Handspring Visor for about two months now and I just can't get used to it. I can form letters fine, but its not very fast or acurate. I get 15-30 WPM on Graffiti, but about 55 on a QWERTY. This will improve with time, I know, but I look at this and ask myself why I should bother. If I could enter stuff into my Visor faster it would be of much more use to me.
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Not a typewriter
I don't see any number keys - also I assume you are typing IN ALL CAPS. (Yaay, go AOL). Also no special symbols like +, *, ", etc. I could imagine all of this getting pretty hard to live without.
Mmmm.. Donuts
For me though, the coolest has to be Thumbcode, developed over in Stanford University. There's an old (April 99) New York Times story here.
Read about it, but basically it's a glove/keyboard with receptors/keys on each segment of your finger, palm up, forming a 3x4 keyboard. One "types" by touching a finger segment with your thumb. Depending on whether the four fingers are together or apart, we end up with a 96-character keyboard. The nice thing is it's completely device independent so I could plug my 'thumbboard' into whatever device I wanted. I think one of the wearable manufacturers have produced a working model, but I haven't been able to find a page about it.
As a pianist, I reckon the fingers can be trained quite quickly to produce respectable wpm times. What I like most about it though, is it's really the first miniature input device that doesn't require you to hunch over squinting while you try to type in your shopping list... I also think it's very natural, so I'm looking forward to a production model someday.
"A goldfish was his muse, eternally amused"
Vs lbh pna ernq guvf, ybt bss abj. Tb bhgfvqr. Syl n xvgr.
Hmm, I removed the casing of my keyboard, leaving only the thin membrane which has the key connecting wires. Typing is easy on this keyboard since you don't have to press a key -- just touch it. Besides, keyless keyboards never ware out because there is no moving parts.
.. is the tongue. I couldn't find any precedent on the web for this idea as an input device but it has been tried as an output device for the blind. It's private too (although there might be interesting opportunities for hacking someone's tongue-keyboard when involved in an intimate encounter ...).
I think some moderator appreciates the idea you just gave him.
"Hmm, this guy is a real deep thinker, I never even considered the implications of being able to type in goatporn.com with one hand."
Great for those AutoeroticBondageLine text chat sessions.
(backstory)
...you want to be talking about "sticky keys" in this thread?
Woops, doesn't this run afoul of Amazon's completely original "One-click technology"?
I Noted that it is not a complete ASCII keyboard.
It is missing ~ ` | \ [ ] { }. At least one ~
in nessary in today URL world unless you like
%42 all the time....
Grey (Chris Lusena)
Can the 'keys' be switched for left handed users?
I'll need to hit the 'K' as often as the next person, but I'd rather go up and left instead of up and right.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Wow, I'm glad to see something like this might make it mainstream soon. I tutored math at a university for several years, and one of my students had cerebral palsy. (imagine Stephen Hawking with slightly more mobility) Because he had greatly reduced mobility, doing something as simple as typing up a simple email would often require an hour or more. It was so time and energy consuming for him that even *I* felt tired after watching him. We often mused about an optimized one finger keyboard.
BTW, does anyone have the specs for a chord based keyboard or at least the frequency of letters and letter combinations for english? I've been playing with the idea of implimenting a simple chord keyboard for some time now.
"My religion is to live --and die-- without regret." -- Milarepa
Graffiti is okay, I suppose, but I find it slower than typing.
--- Math illiteracy affects 8 out of every 5 people.
But does your grandmother want to have a computer?
Yes, if using it feels just like using a telephone or a television set (no, I don't want her using WebTV, though).
She is from a time before keyboards were common, and she has neither the time nor the physical dexterity to learn how to type. OTOH, she can still talk. There are probably many people in her generation in a similar situation, and voice (possibly, IBM's ViaVoice for Linux, or possibly something else) would be the obvious input device. IMO.
JMR
Try e-gold - (contact me). I'm NOT e-
So why the linearity?...just didn't totally think it through?
Da Cr33p
It's a nice idea, but the Palm version still wastes screen space. It would be better if they could do something like what Silkyboard does for QWERTY.
Any Palm gurus out there that could give some tips/would be willing to make an open source version of this? Props to whoever gets around to doing it first.
bash-2.04$
bash-2.04$yes "Don't you hate dialup connections?"| write USERNAME
This layout, like other 'optimal' keyboard layouts, is tuned for normal English text. While I doubt that anyone is going to do some heavy-duty programming with a pen, I'd be interested to see whether any keyboard layouts have ever been optimized for computer languages like C++. Not only are relatively rare letters like xyzijk more likely to show up in variable names, but symbols are much more common than they are in normal text, yet few of them are unshifted keystrokes on a normal keyboard, and not even the most useful ones at that.