Comparison of Soft Keyboard Types for Stylus Pen and Finger-based Interaction on Tablet PCs

Abstract

Pen-based interaction is universally available on smart devices and especially on Tablet PCs. Previous studies compared various input methods like fingers, a mouse or a stylus pen on PCs or on a touchscreen based devices such as smart phones. At the same time, various soft keyboard applications are being developed on application stores of smart devices. However, these previous studies did not suggest which one is a suitable keyboard application for Tablet PCs when users perform a certain interaction as input type. In this study, we compared two types of input methods (finger and pen) and three types of soft keyboard applications (QWERTY, Gesture and Swype) in a Tablet PC using performance measurements (accuracy and input speed) and discussed what types of applications showed better performance with each interaction on tablet PC. From these results, recommendations for the keyboard types depending on the input methods on tablet PCs were developed. †

A Review of the Stylus System to Enhance Usability Through Sensory Feedback

“…As the finger is a more intuitive input method than the stylus, it has quickly become a mainstream input method [1]. At the same time, a number of usability studies comparing the stylus and fingers on capacitive touchscreens were conducted [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The term 'usability' refers to a user's ability to perform a task successfully using a thing [10], and is based on effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction [11].…”