Title: Touchless Typing: Electronic Pens and Voice-Activated Software Are Coming into Their Own as Ways to Enter Data into a Computer
Abstract: In today's world of computers, lack of typing skills is a handicap. The old one-finger typing mode may have worked in a pinch years ago when an envelope needed addressing and the 100-words-per-minute secretary was out to lunch, but now touch typing is as necessary for an executive's survival as knowing how to program a microwave oven or a telephone answering machine. But will it always be that way? Probably not. Despite the proliferation of new keyboard products--all designed to make data entry easier, faster and less painful (for those who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome)--the keyboard soon may become as obsolete as the automobile running board. The threat comes from two emerging technologies: the electronic pen, which writes directly on a special computer pad, and sophisticated software that translates the human voice into computer commands, typed words and numbers. What's driving the effort to make the keyboard obsolete? Portability, speed and convenience. After all, no keyboard can be more portable than a pen. And when the keyboard and pen are compared to the human voice, the spoken word wins hands down. WRITE ON Efforts to get computer users to handwrite their computer commands rather than type them have not been successful. There is a handful of pensystem computers on the market, but the writing is reserved mostly for drawing and other less-than-verbal commands. Where the electronic pen is making the biggest inroads is in miniature devices called personal digital assistants (PDAs). These itty-bitty computers (the size of a paperback book) are too small to incorporate a keyboard so the pen device is a natural. But to date at least, the electronic pen has not proved to be mightier than the keyboard. For proof of that consider the reactions of many pioneers who rushed out to buy one of the first PDAs, Apple's Newton, which was designed, among other things, to take notes, store a personal calendar and, with some extra hardware, act as a communicator--sending and receiving faxes. But the Newton reached beyond its immediate technical grasp. Many users eventually stashed the device in their bottom desk drawers because even when such notes as Back at 11 were neatly scribed on the screen, the Newton was wont to translate it into Racket H or some other gibberish. Despite its penmanship problem, the electronic pen industry has not given up: It's working on the theory that the race is not to the swiftest but to the most persistent. While the current crop of second-generation PDAs relies less on handwriting translation power and more on preset menu items that the user can select with the touch of the pen, a third generation of real pen-powered PDAs is near. The upcoming generation of PDAs will make use of a novel software approach for pen writing. Whereas devices like the Newton required the user to teach the computer to read individual handwriting (the device did improve somewhat with patient user training), the new thinking is to reverse the process: Teach the user how to write in a way that's more compatible to the computer so, for example, a Z would not be confused with a 2 or a 5 with an S. In other words, the goal is to make the software computer-friendly instead of user-friendly. The tool that accomplishes this is a software product called Graffiti, developed by Palm Computing, Inc., a small Los Altos, California, company. In the coming year, the software will be installed in future models of PDAs such as Sony's Magic Link, Motorola's Envoy, Hewlett-Packard's LX line and Tandy's and Casio's Zoomer. To make the penned message easier to read, much of the alphabet was redesigned to eliminate ambiguities. For example, the letter A is written without a crossbar and the letter T looks like an inverted L. It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of the new script, but once that barrier is crossed, the program works fine. In one demonstration we jotted a few words following the new script rules and the program translated the message quickly without a typo. …
Publication Year: 1995
Publication Date: 1995-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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