ForceKeyboard: Eyes-Free Text Entry With a Force Sensitive Soft Keyboard for Wearable Devices.

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Wearable Technology
• Input Devices

Background:

• Wearable devices like smartwatches are increasingly common, posing challenges for text input due to small screens.
• Efficient text entry is crucial for the usability and functionality of wearable devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate ForceKeyboard, a QWERTY soft keyboard for ultra-small devices.
• To assess the impact of using touch location and force data on typing accuracy and speed.

Main Methods:

• A study compared ForceKeyboard with a Baseline keyboard (tapping location only) using 26 participants.
• Performance was evaluated across different key sizes (2.50, 1.75, 1.00 mm) and conditions (sitting, walking).
• Eyes-free text entry tasks simulated real-world wearable device usage challenges.

Main Results:

• ForceKeyboard users achieved significantly higher typing speeds: 3.92, 3.57, and 2.77 words per minute.
• Typing accuracy was also improved with ForceKeyboard, showing 16%-68% greater accuracy.
• ForceKeyboard demonstrated 21%-168% higher speed compared to the baseline keyboard across various key sizes.

Conclusions:

• ForceKeyboard effectively improves text entry performance on ultra-small wearable devices.
• The integration of touch location and force data is a promising approach for enhancing wearable input methods.
• This technology addresses key challenges in wearable text entry, paving the way for more intuitive interactions.