Single-handed, Offline, Portable Data Input?

One Armed Bandit asks: "By now everyone knows the available single handed keyboard alternatives. What I've not seen available is a true portable one-handed offline input device. Gary Friedman's final concept for the DataEgg is a fantastic one. Unfortunately, it never made it to the market. I - for one - would pay a premium for this kind of device. I think one of the reasons that this hasn't been built is because of the requirement for users to learn a new input mechanism. In my experience, this is a more difficult perception to overcome than a skill to acquire. How many of you can navigate your various electronic devices by touch? Is anything on the market? Does anyone have a pet project?"

"The high points would be:

• Single handed operation (probably chorded)
• Local file storage
• On-board display for visual feedback and document review
• Uplink to host (USB, IR, Wireless)

I can't count the occasions which I'm walking down a noisy street (hence no voice recognition) and dying to jot down my stream of consciousness (without using two hands for a stylus and walking in front of a bus)? I would kill for something like this!"

Comments

Folks /w arthritis & other disabilites hate th

[Anonymous Coward]

I have small hands. Worse, they have little to no grip. Both are because of a physical disability I guarantee you that I do not have fingers long enough to hold this and reach all the buttons.

Worse, I can guarantee you that I couldn't hold it and push buttons - I don't have the grip or finger strength. I can hold a standard cellphone in one hand - but my thumb doesn't wrap around far enough to hit the buttons, and I wouldn't have the strength to anyway.

This, and most one-handed input methods I've seen, exclude those with physical disabilities - including arthritis.

I would like to see a keyboard "breastplate" - like armor. I can see typing with one or both hands interchangeably on such a device. But it would have to fit very well, or be tightly strapped, in order to be accurate (it couldn't be accurate if it was bouncing around).

With either method, though, as you describe jogging & typing, display (to confirm input) is still an issue. How many times did you hit the delete key submitting the article? How many more times would you hit delete using a non-standard keyboard, or a Graffiti input device?

morse code

[NateTech]

I can't resist...

Put a morse code key between your fingers. A simple microcontroller could translate to ASCII and store on Flash.

A little shorthand to shorten up longer words and you're set.

Not efficient, but very cool.