FAQ:Ergonomics |
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THE TYPING EXPERIENCE
How fast can you type with LetterWise? With WordWise?
We are currently conducting user studies (as are several independent research groups and companies). At this point we can say that LetterWise appears to allow typing at up to 25 words per minute, and WordWise 35-40 words per minute.
Using T9®, iTap® and eZiText® the display shows garbage while I type. Does that happen with WordWise?
No. As a word-guessing program tries to figure out what word you are typing, it presents a guess after each letter. As the guess changes, the display jumps around, making it difficult to know what you are typing. You don't know if the program has guessed correctly or not until a space has been entered after the word. At Eatoni we call this phenomenon "lost until space". Most of the time, WordWise will show the letter you intend to type as you type it.
What if I make a spelling or typing mistake while entering text?
Eatoni's WordWise is very robust in the face of spelling or typing errors. As with a QWERTY keyboard, when you make a single mistake, the text you end up with still looks very much like what you intended. We call this "sensitivity to errors." With WordWise, a 1-key error translates into an average of 1.27 display errors (QWERTY is of course 1.0). With T9®, the figure is 2.57, so errors tend to blow up quite severely. Coupled with the confusing display instability (see Question 6.2), it is very common to find yourself typing in one of these other products with no idea at all if things are going to work out and if, or where, you made an error. We call this the "lost until space" problem. Until you hit the space key, you don't know whether these word-guessing systems are going to pull your desired word out of the hat or produce complete gibberish (which you will then need to erase and may have to re-enter using Multi Tap).
How well does your software handle surnames? URLs? email addresses?
We have no trouble at all with any of these. Just use WordWise Manual (or LetterWise) to quickly enter anything at all.
What do you do about accented letters?
In languages that use accents, we use the zero key or other predefined keys to enter accented letters. Our software is perfectly able to enter the accented letters of a large number of languages. As with shifted and unshifted CEHLNSTY letters, we use a simple rule that tells the user how to obtain an accented character. We take linguistics seriously and we've taken extra effort to ensure that writers of languages with accented characters will feel perfectly at home with our software.
What is the split attention phenomenon?
Split attention is a classic problem in user interface design that requires the user of a device to focus on two things at the same time. When you use a word-guessing program that uses the SAC, you will enter an ambiguous word about once in every three words. This means that you must constantly be checking to see that the system has picked the correct word for you. You must focus on the keyboard and the display. This is a split attention problem. The problem gets worse though, since you must also frequently choose your intended word from a list of alternates. Not only can you not focus on text entry, you must be scrolling through lists of words on a tiny screen hoping that your word will be one of the suggested alternates (it may not be).
Eatoni's WordWise is touch typable. You can concentrate on typing your text and trust that the system will get things correct. It's so good that (in English) you can expect to enter about 440 words before it ever displays an incorrect alternate word. That's because the CEHLNSTY system has far less ambiguity than the SAC. You will make typing and spelling errors far more often than WordWise will insert something incorrect.
Isn't WordWise a two-handed solution?
We call WordWise a one and a half handed solution. Entering text with WordWise is just like entering text with other products: you typically hold the device in one hand and tap keys with the other. In the case of WordWise you are also occasionally pushing a shift button on the side of the device. After just a small amount of use, you don't even notice the pressing of the shift key.
Aren't chording solutions hard to learn?
Yes, they are. However, WordWise is not a chording solution.
Chording refers to the need to press two keys at the same time, as with playing a chord on a piano. On a piano if you do not press all the keys in a chord simultaneously, the sound is incorrect (and you get extra notes). The keys must be pressed simultaneously. Chording has proved difficult to learn in numerous user interface studies.
The use of the shift key in WordWise is not chording because it does not require that the shift key and the letter key be pressed simultaneously. The shift key can be pressed first, and held, and then the letter key can be pressed and the shift released (or held down for the next shifted letter). This is exactly how we type on a regular computer keyboard with a shift key. In contrast to chording, this is very easy for people to learn: everyone who has ever used a keyboard already knows how to do it without thought. There is no conceptual or motor learning required for users of WordWise when they are told they need to shift. The action is already natural and familiar.
What about user studies?
The results of Several rigorous user studies of both LetterWise and WordWise are available in our Research section.
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