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Alternate keyboards have fascinated me ever since I first got a smartphone capable of using them. My most memorable experimental trials were 8pen[1] and one wh

by Zikes 12y ago

Alternate keyboards have fascinated me ever since I first got a smartphone capable of using them. My most memorable experimental trials were 8pen[1] and one where the user would "slalom" from key to key as columns of letters would move from the right side of the screen to the left, expanding the target area in a fisheye type zoom as you neared your desired letter. Unfortunately the name of the second keyboard evades me, but as a single-finger input it was fairly efficient, and I believe targeted at disabled people with limited mobility. [1] http://www.8pen.com/ http://www.8pen.com/

ankurdave 12y ago
The zooming keyboard sounds like Dasher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software)
- Zikes 12y ago
  That's the one!
- lucb1e 12y ago
  That is not too far from what I tried a while back: http://lucb1e.com/rp/js/testkb.htm http://lucb1e.com/rp/js/testkb.htm It's a bit buggy and it could be hugely optimized, e.g. by placing the options to the right in the center instead of aligning them on top, and you could probably do something like make the keys a certain shape so you are less likely to accidentally select another letter as you move to the right, but the basic idea is there.
jshholland 12y ago
I also used that keyboard for a short while. Currently, I use 5 Tiles [0]. I can get to 20-30 wpm with it, which is acceptable, though not as fast as a regular keyboard. The killer feature is that it takes up less than 10% of the screen, rather than the ~40% a conventional one would. Gripes: it's not great for symbol input (you have to remember all sorts of crazy zigzaggy patterns, or pull up a list which defeats the whole point of not taking up half the screen) and auto-capitalisation doesn't really work. But I use it as my regular keyboard and it does the job. [0]: http://fivetiles.com/ http://fivetiles.com/
- Zikes 12y ago
  Sounds interesting, I'll give that one a shot.
- Cloudy 12y ago
  KiiKeyboard had an option to scale down the size of the keyboard, but has since been removed from the play store due to licensing issues related to "emoji plugin" packs downloaded separately

by Zikes 12y ago

ankurdave 12y ago

The zooming keyboard sounds like Dasher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software)

Zikes 12y ago
That's the one!
lucb1e 12y ago
That is not too far from what I tried a while back: http://lucb1e.com/rp/js/testkb.htm http://lucb1e.com/rp/js/testkb.htm It's a bit buggy and it could be hugely optimized, e.g. by placing the options to the right in the center instead of aligning them on top, and you could probably do something like make the keys a certain shape so you are less likely to accidentally select another letter as you move to the right, but the basic idea is there.

jshholland 12y ago

I also used that keyboard for a short while. Currently, I use 5 Tiles [0]. I can get to 20-30 wpm with it, which is acceptable, though not as fast as a regular keyboard. The killer feature is that it takes up less than 10% of the screen, rather than the ~40% a conventional one would. Gripes: it's not great for symbol input (you have to remember all sorts of crazy zigzaggy patterns, or pull up a list which defeats the whole point of not taking up half the screen) and auto-capitalisation doesn't really work. But I use it as my regular keyboard and it does the job. [0]: http://fivetiles.com/ http://fivetiles.com/

Zikes 12y ago
Sounds interesting, I'll give that one a shot.
Cloudy 12y ago
KiiKeyboard had an option to scale down the size of the keyboard, but has since been removed from the play store due to licensing issues related to "emoji plugin" packs downloaded separately