Shape Writing on Tablets: Better Performance or Better Experience?

Abstract

Shape writing is a technology for text input that involves "drawing" the desired word with your finger or a stylus in one continuous motion on the virtual keyboard. Swype, initially introduced to smart phones, is a shape writing application that is advertised as being faster than traditional methods of keying on a virtual keyboard. This technology is relatively new to the market, and to date there is little available research on the performance of Swype on smart phones, and none on the even newer tablet devices, such as a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The present study investigated the performance (words per minute/average errors per word) and preference associated with the use of Swype for text input compared to keying on the virtual keyboard. The effect of keyboard sizes within landscape and portrait orientations was also examined. In the current implementation, the keying method did not have the benefit of a prediction algorithm, therefore prediction was turned off for Swype condition as well. No significant difference was found in typing speed between the two input methods, however, an effect of keyboard viewing orientation on typing speed was found. For average errors per word, the only significant effect was an interaction between input method and keyboard viewing orientation. Additionally, Swype was rated significantly better than keying on four out of five preference measures. Findings show that despite Swype not operating at its fullest ability, it performs just as well as keying and provides a better experience for users.

Comparing Speech and Keyboard Text Entry for Short Messages in Two Languages on Touchscreen Phones

“…These keyboards require some substantial user training, unlike the speech interface where all participants familiarized themselves with the system after only 10 practice phrases. Other research showed that there was no significant difference in entry rates between Swype and QWERTY, but Swype was rated higher in subjective rankings [30]. Another study showed that with 13-19 hours of practice, users' typing performance using KALQ could be 34% more efficient than typing on split-screen QWERTY layouts [31].…”

Performance and User Experience of Touchscreen and Gesture Keyboards in a Lab Setting and in the Wild

“…The final entry rate for SGK was 20 WPM. Finally, another small SGK study involved 14 participants writing using the SGK for five minutes on a Windows 7 tablet [21]. The entry rate for the SGK was 12 WPM.…”

Trajectory-Based Air-Writing Recognition Using Deep Neural Network and Depth Sensor

“…Standalone devices [12][13][14][19][20][21][22] have been used for air-writing and gesture-based digit recognition. Some cost as little as $1 [19], are readily applicable and serve as a prototype for user interface (UI) designers who lack knowledge of pattern recognition.…”

“…Performance has been compared among various algorithms and devices. The MEMS gyroscope [20], accelerometer [14,23,24], motion sensor [12], Wiimote [13], HP slate 2 [21], Wi-fi [16], and analog inertial measurement unit [22,25] are the leading devices and sensors for trajectory estimation in a 3D spatiotemporal domain. Wi-fi based writing system is new in this field, authors named it Wri-Fi and utilized the channel state information which derived from wireless signals to experience the device-free air writing system.…”

“…Recently, researchers have been following different strategies for air-writing recognition. Nguyen and C. Bartha introduced shape writing and compared it with the Swype on a smartphone [21]. It is shown that shape writing performs better as a virtual keyboard.…”