Two hands and a surface

From MobileDesign

A standard QWERTY keyboard requires more than just two hands to type with. It also requires a surface to put it on, and usually a place to sit. The text input solutions in this section are therefore useful more for taking notes at a meeting than they are for quick messages. The inherent limitations of these solutions mean that they can not be the only method of entering text for a handheld device and thus will generally be sold as separate units.

[edit] Folding Keyboards

There are several models available and they fold to be roughly the size of the PDA. There is no universal connector for PDAs, so a new keyboard has to be engineered for each PDA form, though some are available that employ universal wireless connections, first IrDA, but now with a trend toward Bluetooth, and sometimes other PAN-scale wireless networks.

These keyboards result in a user experience largely like a standard keyboard; some are engineered so that you can use them in your lap, but many will collapse when not on a solid surface. To the right you can see the Targus folding keyboard.

Many of these are provided with a built-in device-stand, in an attempt to make it an all-in-one unit when assembled.

[edit] ElekTex fabric keyboard

This is washable, foldable and scrunchable fabric that can sense where and how hard the user touches it. When designed correctly the fabric doubles as a case for the PDA. We expect other companies to develop fabric keyboards. Logitech IDEO Structural fabric promises to provide the user with sufficient tactile feedback to support touch typing, although it will not have the feel of a full keyboard. It should be possible to use this keyboard in your lap, although it will not be as efficient as using it on a flat surface.

The company also provides other types of control modules and seems to be trying to get manufacturers of other consumer products to integrate them into fabric products of all sorts. This may result in a different interaction, but until there is sufficient saturation it will be difficult to evaluate.

Eleksen

[edit] Silicone Keyboards

A variety of companies manufacture various grades of rollable silicone keyboards. The primary product is an emulation of a full-size keyboard, using many of the same components, but permanently sealed in a silicone rubber casing. They were originally manufactured for various industrial and health care needs, so could be decontaminated and otherwise washed, and would not become damaged with dirt and other debris.

These are always quite flexible, and require a flat surface to type on; they cannot be used from the lap. They may be rolled up for storage, usually fairly compactly, but as they are mostly not designed for portability, there is no provision to store them rolled. Connection is typically by wire (USB or PS/2); wireless connections would require power, and therefore a casing which violates the all-molded design principle.

[edit] VKB Virtual Keyboard or Vkey

This device projects a laser drawn keyboard onto a nearby surface, and detects which lines are broken to determine which keys were activated. We are not fully convinced of this technology. Technically, it will work, but the user experience has the following drawbacks:

• No tactile feedback. Users are accustomed to feeling keyboards, and good keyboards have a lot of effort in the design of tactile feedback.
• Device must be able to stand vertically, or placed on a stand.
• User must have a reasonably flat surface to project on. A lap is certainly insufficient.
• The visibility of the keyboard may be environmentally variable; strong light, glare or reflection, or patterning on the surface may interfere with this
• The size of the keyboard will likely increase as the distance from the projection unit increases.
• User will need to be able to see the screen while typing, but most devices will need to be vertical while projecting; so the angle at which the user views the screen is not optimal for LCD displays of current mobile device designs.

Virtual Devices

[edit] Senseboard Virtual Keyboard

This, and similar technologies, have the user typing in midair. Straps around the user's hands contain sensors that detect finger motion, mapping those motions to what the user intended to type. We are not fully convinced of this technology. Technically, it will likely work, but the user experience has the following drawbacks:

• No tactile feedback. Users are accustomed to feeling keyboards, and good keyboards have a lot of effort in the design of tactile feedback.
• User must be a touch typist. Many users are not. The company suggests that the keyboard layout could be stenciled on the back of the hands; this will not make a hunt-and-peck typist make the correct movements to correctly activate the keys.
• User discomfort. The ability to see the keyboard is a safety net that most modern touch typists use at least occasionally.
• Infrequent character accuracy. Even if the user is a touch typist, they may not be able to correctly hit number keys, or correctly remember which symbol is on which number key. The user would probably end up putting a keyboard drawn on a piece of paper on the desk, defeating the purpose of the keyboardless keyboard.
• Users will neglect to use the pause function when the typing task pauses, such as to answer a call, jot a note, or scratch a head. This will cause extraneous characters to be added to the document.

Senseboard