Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

TipText: Eyes-free text entry on a fingertip keyboard

  • Zheer Xu
  • , Pui Chung Wong
  • , Jun Gong
  • , Te Yen Wu
  • , Aditya Shekhar Nittala
  • , Xiaojun Bi
  • , Jürgen Steimle
  • , Hongbo Fu
  • , Kening Zhu
  • , Xing Dong Yang
  • Dartmouth College
  • City University of Hong Kong
  • Saarland University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

94 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, we propose and investigate a new text entry technique using micro thumb-tip gestures. Our technique features a miniature QWERTY keyboard residing invisibly on the first segment of the user's index finger. Text entry can be carried out using the thumb-tip to tap the tip of the index finger. The keyboard layout was optimized for eyes-free input by utilizing a spatial model reflecting the users' natural spatial awareness of key locations on the index finger. We present our approach of designing and optimizing the keyboard layout through a series of user studies and computer simulated text entry tests over 1, 146, 484 possibilities in the design space. The outcome is a 2 ×3 grid with the letters highly confining to the alphabetic and spatial arrangement of QWERTY. Our user evaluation showed that participants achieved an average text entry speed of 11.9 WPM and were able to type as fast as 13.3 WPM towards the end of the experiment.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUIST 2019 - Proceedings of the 32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages883-889
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781450368162
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 17 2019
Event32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST 2019 - New Orleans, United States
Duration: Oct 20 2019Oct 23 2019

Publication series

NameUIST 2019 - Proceedings of the 32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

Conference

Conference32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNew Orleans
Period10/20/1910/23/19

Keywords

  • Micro thumb-tip gesture
  • Text entry
  • Wearable

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'TipText: Eyes-free text entry on a fingertip keyboard'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this