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A Better Way to Enter Text On a Palmtop

DippyOz writes: "Ever wanted to speedily enter text into your palm and hate those 'look ahead' features? Dasher is a research project from Cambridge that presents an innovative way to speed up text entering by predicting and allowing you to choose from a number of choices by flying over them with your stylus (or mouse). There's Linux, Windows and PocketPC versions to download and try."

7 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. I can't help it... by DrFatal · · Score: 2, Funny

    But this feels like something Jeff 'Yak' Minter would have thought of a long time ago. Attack of the Mutant Alphabet?

  2. Re:I tested it a while ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The best thing I found to do with the demo was to simply start it, and then push the mouse off to the right as far as could, and leave it. Dasher is pretty happy to make its own sentances, for example:

    of oscillwods of paplace foot three jamespsawpasten this dogs jaemal ref

    You also get trippy visuals.

    Oh, but I couldn't use this for entering much more than a three word sentence. The interface is far too liquid; all that scrolling around and zooming gives me a headache very quickly. It is also unsufferably slow; give me a 12 key mobile phone keypad any day!

  3. Wearable computer by sporkee · · Score: 2, Funny
    Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a full-size keyboard cannot be used - for example,
    on a palmtop computer;
    on a wearable computer;

    it would be cool to see what would be written out during a rush hour scrum on the train if you're wearing the comp. i sense a whole new genre of literature...

    --

    ----------
    "Yes, I have breasts. Now quit looking at them"
    http://www.geek-ware.co.uk

  4. random textes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Did anyone try to let the tool produce its own sentences without moving the mouse. The result can be quite interesting. Here is a real example:

    ive off ajoritaquely eanwhelms to aeuserebral imagined.ius.zzlikestone could not words tired is wife. tellk you were

  5. Dasher sounds pretty cool, but... by jbarr · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...I'll wait for the Dancer or maybe the Prancer project. Of course these will be followed up by the launch of the Vixen, Comet, and Cupid projects. Though the Donnor project was nothing more than a party, the Blitzen should prove to be innovative. Of course, the Rudolph project will help shed more light on the issue.

    --
    My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
  6. Ouija board, magic 8-ball, and Dasher! by Black+Perl · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's fun to just click once to get it started, and then let it say what it wants to... I just did it, and it spelled out "pox today for the king."

    --
    bp
  7. Vomit Palm-it by 3Suns · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Dude, you don't look so good... you ok?"

    "Yeah, I've just been typing on my PDA too long. This is really making me nauseous."

    "I know how you feel. Here, have some dramamine."

    "Thanks, man. ::gulp:: A little while ago I almost passed out. Looked up to see I'd just told my boss how attractive his mother is, and accidentally fired off an email to my wife complaining about the water quality in Ecuador."

    "No good, dude. If there's such a thing as a gadget that's too easy to use, I think you've found it. Here, try this. It's called a keyboard."

    --

    -3Suns

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