New Cell Phone Typing Solution

merlin_jim writes "Found this article on MSNBC about a new Cell Phone typing solution. It uses silicon sensors that can recognize the "shape" of each finger. The meaning of each key changes depending on which finger you use to press it; index finger for A, middle finger for B, etc. Unused finger/key combinations can be assigned to functions like ring volume." Watch out for those pop-up advertisements on your way into MSNBC. This is an idea I never really thought about for single handed typing input. A very cool idea.

Comments

Fine, except...

[JanneM]

...except that I use the thumb to press every key on the cellphone, holding it with the rest of the fingers.

If we have to use every finger, this means you suddenly need to use both hands just to use the phone - not a step forward.

/Janne

Re:Fine, except...

[Bobman1235]

...except that I use the thumb to press every key on the cellphone, holding it with the rest of the fingers.

Good point. I dont' think this idea will really take off when people realize they have to put their cell phone down somewhere in order to use it. There's very little point in having a cell phone if you have to go find a desk somewhere to sit just to use it--might as well just get a laptop or something.

And not to sound snotty, but what's really the big deal with typing in names, etc., using the telephone keypads? If you do it enough, you should become pretty fast at it, seriously. If you want to write a novel maybe you should just accept the fact that the cell phone is not the best medium for that type of communication.

Re:Fine, except...

[toxcspdrmn]

What about people who through accident of birth (or just plain accident) have less than the standard complement of digits?

The one thing that current cellphones have in their favour is that if you can hold one and have one finger or thumb spare, you can use it (sight/hearing impairments excepted).

Only good for animals

[Misfit]

Most humans use their opposable thumbs with cellphones.

high cost?

[n3r0.m4dski11z]

"At a cost of about $1 per sensor, it seems unlikely the phone manufacturers would implement this technology anytime soon."

yeah ok when i buy my new $500+ phone i sure bet that the manufacturers would hesitate about putting a few $1 sensors in. besides now that same phone would have a new feature! so they would probably up the price anyways.
even a chep little nokia couldnt be made that much more expensive with a few $1 sensors... could it?

Don't be so negative

[kruemelmonster]

It's new, it's hype... it isn't fair to come with facts here... You have to be excited about that! Didn't you know?
Because the volume of sold phone isn't more rising, they have top bring something new, that everyone must have. BUY IT!
Or you're responsible it the whole marketing-bubble collapses!

PS: ouups... seems i forgot the tags

2 finger chords

[shibut]

This looks interesting but expensive to implement (the article says $1 per sensor for 1 key and then you need to license & implement the technology). It seems to me that it would be easier to add 3-4 more buttons to an SMS phone that were pressed simultaneosly with the "letter" buttons. Since 2 hands are needed to operate the finger differentiating method, it won't matter if you use 2 hand for this "chord". In particular, those of us that thumb-type on a cell can just use both thumbs.

Just an idea....

Nope, this won't do.

[motherhead]

and i don't care that it is fingers he are talking about, 10 individual fingers on a phone as tiny as any nokia is not only embarassing, but impractical.

a rudimentary stylus pane and something like graphitti would be infinately more practical.

i for one would stear clear of any appliance that wanted me to learn some obscure dvorkian-esque ten fingered gymnastics to enter in "John Walsh - Home".

I sympathize with people that want to see a better interface implimented so they can text message, but this is hokie, regaurdless of the of the two patents and the $50,000 VC and the writeup in MSNBC...

in the words of Steve Martin, "That was shit one, this is shit two..."

this is tricky

[heyeq]

I have just tried this approach for the last ten minutes, and I must confess, this one is not too easy. I wonder if, if this tech ever reached our mobiles, we would be faced with the same conversion as say for example, a QWERTY to DVORAK keyboard change.
People don't tend to change from something that they've grown accustomed to - the phones' interface hasn't really changed in years.
Nevertheless, I'd be excited to see what this brings.

Not very easy to use...

[Vapula]

There are several reasons for this :

• some people are holding their cellular in the same hand they are using to type. the other fingers are used to hold the phone
• when the keys are small or when the user had big fingers, using the tip of the index finger is easier to type
• Keyboard entry use all fingers but for DIFFERENT keys. Here, it's about using all fingers on the SAME key.
• You have far less strength in your small fingers and more in your thumb and index.

Anyway, cyclic typing is the best possible way to do blind typing (for example, while driving, in order to keep your eyes on the road) and DictAssisted typing is usually the fastest way to type (except when you use a lot of words not in the dictionnary).

this seems VERY awkward.

[Telek]

I just tried it on my phone (simulated of course) and it seems like it'd be a LARGE step backwards from the current T9/etc that's on the market. I've used T9 and it works great, and do most of the typing by holding the phone with my hand and using my thumb on that hand only. I can get decent amounts done that way. (I have a Sony J5 BTW)... This way you're pretty much required to use 2 hands, which makes it pretty inconvenient for places where you only have one hand available.

And actually I doubt if it's any faster. You need to move your entire hand around and hit those small small keys with different fingers which is pretty awkward to do. I can't see this being much faster than T9, or what will soon be (give it a year or so) voice dictated anyways.

And besides, how much text do you ACTUALLY send on your cellphone? I use the email feature to CHECK email and send a 5 word reply. I use SMS to RECEIVE traffic/weather/etc updates and the occasional note by my friends. But if I need to talk with one of them, I call them! I have the phone right there and talking is BY FAR FAR FAR more efficient than any typing method would be.

Re:Better for the PSX control pad

[Guignol]

No, it isn't either, for the same geometry problem.
The problem for cellphone, is that the way you use it, (mostly with your thumb) is with a fixed position of the hand.
For a gamepad, this is pretty much the same, and in fact, it's even worse, because you have higher speed concerns.
To play most action games, you position your fingers above the buttons you will be using and combine, click and click again as fast as possible.
You would use a considerable amount of time to try clicking the same button with different fingers, it's much better to have as many buttons as possible comfortably spread around the device so that you have them all ready to click/trigger/press..
The invention is interesting, but pretty useless in fact, they could have as well invented a camera that could sense your head orientation so that you could do a few things just by moving your head.
It would be interesting but useless, it's not useful just because it is possible or even cool.
The few examples they propose in the article and for what patents were filled are all equaly useless (and even dangerous).
But I could see an application that maybe they forgot to patent:
someone could make a teaching keyboard to train people for typing, or music... where a program could teach the student how to position his fingers and monitor if the words are entered correctly, or if a melody is played "the right way", things like that...