3 ms·

Sometimes opening a keyboard and typing is just too efficient. Sometimes you need a technology that will slow your life down and make it more prone to errors. G

by jenius 14y ago

Sometimes opening a keyboard and typing is just too efficient. Sometimes you need a technology that will slow your life down and make it more prone to errors. Google handwrite: why type when you can awkwardly scribble?

bokonon 14y ago
I agree with you, but at the same time I think it's great that somebody is at least trying to innovate the tools we have for interfacing with technology. I know handwriting recognition isn't anything new, but the idea that the keyboard is all we will ever need can only contribute to the stagnation of advancement. I'm still waiting for the day I can telepathically control all my devices.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  There could be a lot done with eyeball tracking. We already have setups that can accurately determine where you will be looking a fraction of a second in the future. Eyeball tracking combined with speech or handwriting translation could be quite powerful. The eyeball tracking could provide a lot of contextual information to make speech/handwriting recognition more accurate.
  - bokonon 14y ago
    We already have setups that can accurately determine where you will be looking a fraction of a second in the future. Do you have a link to more information about this? That's really impressive.
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      One's saccade eye movements are very regular in acceleration profile, so it's possible to determine where you're going to look from the start of the saccade movement. I could not find the original reference, but there is some highly technical information here: http://books.google.com/books?id=27jCNmafYU4C&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=eye+tracking+acceleration&source=bl&ots=pPY9X7JFme&sig=-HINFhKxiUQ3yKR4T9jhUIc_qRE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NawRUKrLBYXxigKWgYHoAQ&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=eye%20tracking%20acceleration&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=27jCNmafYU4C&pg=PA150&#...
      - jenius 14y ago
        This is totally incorrect, eye tracking is not sufficiently advanced to be in any way useful in terms of entering input. There exist 'visual keyboards' for people that are paralyzed which allow them to select a key based on where they are looking. These, while a fantastic tool to help disabled people, are not even close to approaching the speed we achieve using a manual keyboard. There's an example here - your eye has to linger for at least a second for the computer to be confident in your choice. http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20768271 http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20768271 And it only takes common sense to realize that we don't look at every key we type, and it makes it faster. The quickest typists don't have to look at the keyboard at all, and this increases efficiency. Both handwriting and eye tracking are much much slower than typing, no matter what. You can be the fastest handwriter on the planet, and still a moderately talented typist will burn the shit out of you. It just takes less time to hit a key than it does to write an entire letter form. I realize my first comment was kind of mean and sarcastic, but that was because this idea is so completely stupid and not progressive at all that I thought the relatively intelligent community on hacker news would realize this immediately. All my friends and co-workers who saw it were like "this is completely dumb"... immediately. I understand that people like things that are 'different' and 'progressive', but this particular tool is neither of the above. It's a fun little trick that is totally not practically useful in any way.
        stcredzero 14y ago
        > This is totally incorrect, eye tracking is not sufficiently advanced to be in any way useful in terms of entering input. Actually, you are totally incorrect. If you look back at the thread, I am not proposing eye tracking as a sole means of input, but as a means of providing contextual information to other means of input. > I realize my first comment was kind of mean and sarcastic, but that was because this idea is so completely stupid and not progressive at all that I thought the relatively intelligent community on hacker news would realize this immediately. All my friends and co-workers who saw it were like "this is completely dumb"... immediately. Then at least you or you and your friends are guilty of sloppy reading, of a level I do not expect for HN. Again, this is not proposed as a primary means of input, but as an enhancement to contextual information for speech and handwriting input.
TheSOB88 14y ago
Because touch-screen typing, and seeing the phone's wrong answers about what you meant EVERY time, isn't incredibly frustrating. ;)
- ElliotH 14y ago
  If you hate onscreen keyboards, try Swiftkey, it genuinely is an amazing thing. It's practically psychic.
eavc 14y ago
I can see handwriting on a small space being faster than typing on a small space if the technology for recognition were good enough.
raldi 14y ago
Why speculate when we can race?
- jenius 14y ago
  Is this a serious comment or are you trolling? Don't tell me you think hand writing is faster than typing...
  - raldi 14y ago
    Well, let's put it to the test. Not at a desk, of course, but while walking, or using one hand while the other's holding a baby, or in the back seat of a taxi. Edit: I forgot to mention, the test will be carried out by a 62-year-old Egyptian grandmother.

by jenius 14y ago

bokonon 14y ago

I agree with you, but at the same time I think it's great that somebody is at least trying to innovate the tools we have for interfacing with technology. I know handwriting recognition isn't anything new, but the idea that the keyboard is all we will ever need can only contribute to the stagnation of advancement. I'm still waiting for the day I can telepathically control all my devices.

stcredzero 14y ago
There could be a lot done with eyeball tracking. We already have setups that can accurately determine where you will be looking a fraction of a second in the future. Eyeball tracking combined with speech or handwriting translation could be quite powerful. The eyeball tracking could provide a lot of contextual information to make speech/handwriting recognition more accurate.
- bokonon 14y ago
  We already have setups that can accurately determine where you will be looking a fraction of a second in the future. Do you have a link to more information about this? That's really impressive.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    One's saccade eye movements are very regular in acceleration profile, so it's possible to determine where you're going to look from the start of the saccade movement. I could not find the original reference, but there is some highly technical information here: http://books.google.com/books?id=27jCNmafYU4C&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=eye+tracking+acceleration&source=bl&ots=pPY9X7JFme&sig=-HINFhKxiUQ3yKR4T9jhUIc_qRE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NawRUKrLBYXxigKWgYHoAQ&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=eye%20tracking%20acceleration&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=27jCNmafYU4C&pg=PA150&#...
    - jenius 14y ago
      This is totally incorrect, eye tracking is not sufficiently advanced to be in any way useful in terms of entering input. There exist 'visual keyboards' for people that are paralyzed which allow them to select a key based on where they are looking. These, while a fantastic tool to help disabled people, are not even close to approaching the speed we achieve using a manual keyboard. There's an example here - your eye has to linger for at least a second for the computer to be confident in your choice. http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20768271 http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_20768271 And it only takes common sense to realize that we don't look at every key we type, and it makes it faster. The quickest typists don't have to look at the keyboard at all, and this increases efficiency. Both handwriting and eye tracking are much much slower than typing, no matter what. You can be the fastest handwriter on the planet, and still a moderately talented typist will burn the shit out of you. It just takes less time to hit a key than it does to write an entire letter form. I realize my first comment was kind of mean and sarcastic, but that was because this idea is so completely stupid and not progressive at all that I thought the relatively intelligent community on hacker news would realize this immediately. All my friends and co-workers who saw it were like "this is completely dumb"... immediately. I understand that people like things that are 'different' and 'progressive', but this particular tool is neither of the above. It's a fun little trick that is totally not practically useful in any way.
      - stcredzero 14y ago
        > This is totally incorrect, eye tracking is not sufficiently advanced to be in any way useful in terms of entering input. Actually, you are totally incorrect. If you look back at the thread, I am not proposing eye tracking as a sole means of input, but as a means of providing contextual information to other means of input. > I realize my first comment was kind of mean and sarcastic, but that was because this idea is so completely stupid and not progressive at all that I thought the relatively intelligent community on hacker news would realize this immediately. All my friends and co-workers who saw it were like "this is completely dumb"... immediately. Then at least you or you and your friends are guilty of sloppy reading, of a level I do not expect for HN. Again, this is not proposed as a primary means of input, but as an enhancement to contextual information for speech and handwriting input.

TheSOB88 14y ago

Because touch-screen typing, and seeing the phone's wrong answers about what you meant EVERY time, isn't incredibly frustrating. ;)

ElliotH 14y ago
If you hate onscreen keyboards, try Swiftkey, it genuinely is an amazing thing. It's practically psychic.

eavc 14y ago

I can see handwriting on a small space being faster than typing on a small space if the technology for recognition were good enough.

raldi 14y ago

Why speculate when we can race?

jenius 14y ago
Is this a serious comment or are you trolling? Don't tell me you think hand writing is faster than typing...
- raldi 14y ago
  Well, let's put it to the test. Not at a desk, of course, but while walking, or using one hand while the other's holding a baby, or in the back seat of a taxi. Edit: I forgot to mention, the test will be carried out by a 62-year-old Egyptian grandmother.