Difference between revisions of "Chorded Keyboard"

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[[File:Twiddler2.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The Twiddler2 one-handed chording USB keyboard]]
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===Definition===
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Unlike the [[Persistent Architecture]] of the standard-issue desktop keyboard, a chorded keyboard is an input device that allows a user to type in a chordal pattern. The advantages of chordal keyboards are that they allow their users to type with one hand, or while moving around. The Twiddler chorded keyboard is perhaps the most popular chorded keyboard in existence. It has been used by [[Steve Mann]], [[Thad Starner]] and their respective students.
  
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The Twiddler is the name of a one-handed chording USB keyboard produced by the Handykey corporation.  
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Various students at MIT and Carnegie Mellon University have used the Twiddler as the primary input device for class notes, everyday writing such as E-mail and even entire dissertations. When starting the [[MIT Wearable Computing Project]], Georgia Tech and former MIT Media Lab professor [[Thad Starner]] issued every member a Twiddler as their primary text input device. <ref>Starner, Thad. Research: Mobile Entry - Contextual Computing Group - College of Computing. Georgia Institute of Technology. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~thad/030_research.htm Accessed Oct 2011.</ref> Twiddler was one of the first components Thad Starner bought when designing his wearable computer. Over time, the Twiddler and his wearable computer replaced his desktop computer.<ref>Starner, Thad. HandyKey Twiddler Testimonial. http://www.handykey.com/testimonials.html Accessed 15 April 2011.</ref> All of Starner's writing, including his PhD thesis, was written with the Twiddler.
  
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"Twiddler was one of the first components I bought when designing my wearable computer. After six years of everyday use, I wouldn't think of using a wearable without one. The convenience and ergonomic benefits become apparent with long-term use. In fact, for the last two years, the Twiddler and my wearable computer have replaced my desktop (e.g. my PhD thesis was written with the Twiddler).
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[[Thad Starner]] and others produced a research study on the various rates of one handed mobile input with the Twiddler and reported that some test subjects could achieve speeds of up to 60 wpm on the devices.<ref>Starner, Thad. An Empirical Study of Typing Rates on mini-QWERTY Keyboards. CHI. Portland, OR. April 2005.</ref>. Starner found that many new users were up to 10 words a minute with a weekend's worth of practice, and current non-touch typists remark that it is easier than learning the desktop QWERTY keyboard".<ref>Ibid.</ref>
  
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When starting the [[MIT Wearable Computing Project]], I issued every member a Twiddler as their primary text input device. With starting another group at Georgia Tech focused on wearable computing, I've just placed an order for 10 more Twiddler 1's. We've seen typing speeds of 60 words per minute, and an undergraduate has reported speeds up to 30 words a minute with only a weekend of practice. More generally, new users can learn the alphabet in 5 minutes and can be touch typing in an hour. Though it takes time for the fingers to &quot;loosen up&quot; to accomodate the new motion (much like learning to play an instrument or learning how to type on a desktop), many new users are up to 10 words a minute with a weekend's worth of practice, and current non-touch typists remark that it is easier than learning the desktop QWERTY keyboard". - [[Thad Starner]], Professor at Georgia Tech and former [[Media Lab at MIT|MIT Media Lab]].
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[[Steve Mann]] is known to use the Twiddler to edit Wikipedia entries while waiting to cross the street in Toronto, Ontario.<ref>Mann, Steve. Glogger: Wikipedia User Profile. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Glogger Accessed Jul 2011.</ref>
  
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"I'd like to say that I have been very happy with the Twiddler. I've been tinkering with wearable computers for some 15 years now, and never come across a better input device. I've designed and built a number of input devices from microswitches and the like -- before the Twiddler was being manufactured, but I really do like the Twiddler, despite its 1 or 2 shortcomings. It gives me the same sense of tactile feedback that I get from a high quality microswitch, enabling me to control various kinds of apparatus without my needing to pay full attention to the screen...If you need any ``testimonials'' from an experienced tinkerer, designer, builder, and user of wearable computing, I'd be happy to recommend Twiddler to wearable computer users, over and above voice (or certainly at least in addition to), eye movement trackers, and all of the other ways of controlling computers or external devices". - [[Steve Mann]], Professor, University of Toronto, Electrical Engineering Dept.
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===Related Reading===
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*[[Thad Starner]]
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*[[Persistent Architecture]]
  
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[http://www.handykey.com Handykey Corporation]
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==References==
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<references />
  
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[[An Empirical Study of Typing Rates on mini-QWERTY Keyboards]] (CHI. Portland, OR. April 2005)
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[[Category:Book Pages]]
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[[Category:Finished]]
  
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Source: [http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~thad/030_research.htm Mobile Entry - Contextual Computing Group - College of Computing - Georgia Institute of Technology]
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__NOTOC__
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Also see: [[Thad Starner]]
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Latest revision as of 05:38, 14 October 2011

Definition

Unlike the Persistent Architecture of the standard-issue desktop keyboard, a chorded keyboard is an input device that allows a user to type in a chordal pattern. The advantages of chordal keyboards are that they allow their users to type with one hand, or while moving around. The Twiddler chorded keyboard is perhaps the most popular chorded keyboard in existence. It has been used by Steve Mann, Thad Starner and their respective students.

Various students at MIT and Carnegie Mellon University have used the Twiddler as the primary input device for class notes, everyday writing such as E-mail and even entire dissertations. When starting the MIT Wearable Computing Project, Georgia Tech and former MIT Media Lab professor Thad Starner issued every member a Twiddler as their primary text input device. [1] Twiddler was one of the first components Thad Starner bought when designing his wearable computer. Over time, the Twiddler and his wearable computer replaced his desktop computer.[2] All of Starner's writing, including his PhD thesis, was written with the Twiddler.

Thad Starner and others produced a research study on the various rates of one handed mobile input with the Twiddler and reported that some test subjects could achieve speeds of up to 60 wpm on the devices.[3]. Starner found that many new users were up to 10 words a minute with a weekend's worth of practice, and current non-touch typists remark that it is easier than learning the desktop QWERTY keyboard".[4]

Steve Mann is known to use the Twiddler to edit Wikipedia entries while waiting to cross the street in Toronto, Ontario.[5]

Related Reading

References

  1. ↑ Starner, Thad. Research: Mobile Entry - Contextual Computing Group - College of Computing. Georgia Institute of Technology. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~thad/030_research.htm Accessed Oct 2011.
  2. ↑ Starner, Thad. HandyKey Twiddler Testimonial. http://www.handykey.com/testimonials.html Accessed 15 April 2011.
  3. ↑ Starner, Thad. An Empirical Study of Typing Rates on mini-QWERTY Keyboards. CHI. Portland, OR. April 2005.
  4. ↑ Ibid.
  5. ↑ Mann, Steve. Glogger: Wikipedia User Profile. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Glogger Accessed Jul 2011.
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