IBM's Morphing Touchscreen Keyboard Interface 45
cylonlover writes "While most people prefer using physical keyboards and only tolerate virtual keyboards on their mobile devices for the sake of portability, onscreen keyboards do potentially offer a flexibility that can't be matched by physical keyboards. It's this flexibility that IBM is looking to take advantage of with the company recently filing a U.S. patent application for a morphing touchscreen keyboard interface that would automatically resize, reshape and reposition keys based on a user's typing style."
That's nice (Score:2)
However, with that, I'd still prefer a slide-out with a second screen to put the keyboard on, so that it doesn't take up screen real-estate. At least, on a cell phone. A tablet probably has enough size to make that unnecessary. Even so, I still prefer the tactile click. Also, the feel of the edge of the key helps me type more accurately, if my aim is slightly off. Touch screen keyboards don't have that yet, though there are patents/techs that might help that, provided they require a bit of pressure for the
not so hot (Score:2)
This seems stupid (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean it reminds me of the new ipod nano's. Ever goto the gym with those and you aren't one of the track-at-a-time generation? Shuffle does no good for most of us who like a whole album. With t hose tiny touch screens, you literally have to look at the screen in order to change songs or browse around different artists. That really breaks your stride when working out, or when smoking cigarettes with a drink in another hand, etc.
Morphing may sound cool, but touch screen for input devices needs to get out of general purpose computing. It's just slowing everyone down.. that is where our productivity is really going.... The extra time spent manipulating touch screens really adds up at the end of the week...
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Re:This seems stupid (Score:4, Insightful)
Uh, and the keyboard knows what you "meant" to type, how? It's psychic? 90% of my frustration in using computers is when it's convinced it knows what I want and it's *wrong*. "No, I don't want that. If you'll just let me specify exactly--no, I don't want that either!"
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Try Swype.
It's basically running spell-check as you drag your finger across the screen, and does an amazing job even if you're sloppy.
No need to morph anything.
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Spell-check? Bleah. A great way of making sure you correctly spelled the wrong word.
LCARS... (Score:1)
Ooh, what fun! (Score:3)
Let's play "Where's the 'e' key *today*?"
Tactile feedback? (Score:4, Insightful)
The main reason it's awful with touch interfaces is that you can't touch-type.
Writing habits depend on how you sit and you can easily adapt between angles by tactile feedback.
So, get a functioning tactile response system which is morphic.
THEN, I'm sold.
At least if it flexes, if not, it's bad for your fingers.
A Morphic Tactile Physical Touch System (Score:1)
ThickButtons for Android (Score:1)
ThickButtons for Android already does this.
Here's a youtube video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itIPS3U2bf8 [youtube.com]
And here's a link on the developer's site to all the articles written about ThickButtons.
http://www.thickbuttons.com/index.php?f=news [thickbuttons.com]
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No, it doesn't. ThickButtons changes the keyboard layout as you are typing, which would make the keyboard pretty much impossible for a touch typist to use. The IBM method customizes the layout to conform to the user's physical characteristics, making the keyboard easier for a touch typist to use.
Psychic Keyboard? (Score:2)
Prior art? (Score:1)
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That is most definitely NOT the 'exact same thing'. ThickButtons is almost impossible for a touch typist to use. The position of the buttons is constantly changing. It is only suitable for one-finger 'hunt and peck' typing.
The IBM method is designed to make touch pads easier to use for touch typists, by configuring the layout to match the individual's physical characteristics. Once configured, the layout of the keys does not change.
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Once configured, the layout of the keys does not change.
Funny, TFA said that it would watch ongoing usage and morph slightly to ensure that it remained efficient and effective. Of course, it won't do massive huge changes, so touch-typing will be interfered with as little as possible.
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Yes, I missed that. Even so, the approaches are markedly different. The ThickButtons approach is adjusting the keyboard based on an assumption of what key the user will want to hit next, while the IBM approach is adjusting the keyboard based on where the user expects the keys to be.
F and J are "special"... (Score:3, Interesting)
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Only to be confounded because the pre-OS X Mac keyboards had the bumps over the D and K keys instead. (Nowadays Apple relented and puts them over F and J - probably a Jobs-ian order).
Though, sometimes when I'm not looking at hte keyboard, trying to type with one hand (other on the mouse), I sometimes land on the wro
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I am sure all 8 of you that bought a pre OSX mac and have not adapted in a decade will be just fine
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Blindtype does this better... (Score:1)
Another proof .. (Score:1)
Apple's iOS took approach of dynamic tap zones (Score:1)
According to this video [youtube.com], Apples uses a slightly different approach of just changing the size of the tap targets dynamically, but not changing the size or appearance of the keys.
I would guess Apple's approach is less distracting than changing the key size or highlighting the keys. Rather, it is just 'magic'.
BlindType Anyone? (Score:1)
I didn't RTFA, so how is this different from BlindType, a company who made a keyboard that rotated and scaled to account for the user being off. I remember they had patented it and Google bought them in Oct 2010.