Dynamic Keyboard Systems for Improved Typing Performance

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dramatic increases in computer speed and the development of on-screen keyboards that send text to commercial software programs provided the foundation for this innovative approach to assisted typing. In Phase I, this new approach "Smart Key Technology (TM)" (SKT) was investigated, further developed, and tested. Using "letter prediction, SKT searches currently loaded dictionaries (files containing word, sentence, and abbreviation lists ordinarily used with word prediction) and identifies all letters that follow the currently typed character string. Depending on the option selected, SKT "identifies" the most likely next letter(s) by removing, graying out, or changing the color of unlikely letters presented on the on-screen keyboard. In the experiment conducted, subjects typed significantly more letters during a set time period when using SKT with an on-screen keyboard under both point-and-click (when the keyboard was unfamiliar) and scanning conditions. Most notable was the dramatic improvement under scanning conditions. Hypothesized sources of performance enhancement are 1) reduced visual scanning time, 2) simpler displays, 3) reduced probability of selecting an incorrect key, and 4) decreased key selection time (for scanning keyboards). In the proposed Phase II work, further enhancements of SKT will be made and two important variations of SKT will be developed and tested. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Not available