Keyboard

2018: Why we've been using an uncomfortable keyboard for 150 years

On October 13, 2018, a publication appeared on the MIT Technology Review website dedicated to the fact that humanity has continued to use keyboards for almost 150 years, despite the fact that they cannot be considered truly convenient. At the same time, many noteworthy developments have been created for more convenient text input and computer management.

Experts consider the force of inertia to be one of the main reasons that prevent the replacement of traditional QWERTY keyboards with more modern and convenient solutions. Parents, grandmothers and even great-grandmothers learned to type on such keyboards.

Keyboard for Mac computers

We're fixated, "says Frank Jones, associate professor of computer science at Brigham Young University. - We teach children how to use the QWERTY keyboard, because it is everywhere. Why everywhere? Because we teach children to use it.

Clinical professor of physical therapy at New York University Kevin Weaver agrees that people are comfortable now: they do not need to create new keyboards that can add ergonomics problems.

The classic version of the history of the appearance of the QWERTY keyboard layout is quite widely known. It states that one of the inventors of the typewriter, Christopher Latham Scholes, encountered  a technical problem when designing his mechanisms. Professional typists developed such a printing speed during work that when several letters were quickly pressed in a row, the levers with letters did not have time to move away from the roll with paper and jammed. In response to constant complaints, Scholes solved this problem by placing letters on the keyboard so as to slow down the printing speed as much as possible: the letters often used in combinations were located far from each other.

Nobody tried to challenge the use of the QWERTY layout as a standard, but many devices were created that could theoretically replace keyboards.

The promising device is being developed by Israeli startup Tap Systems. We are talking about a wearable Bluetooth controller made in the form of Tap Strap brass knuckles. It "translates" finger taps into letters, numbers and symbols and allows "writing" on any surface. 

Tap Strap

The $180 Tap Strap is a plastic belt with holes for each finger. The device can be worn on both right and left hands. It recognizes 31 finger movements and "translates" them into letters, numbers and characters, which are then transmitted via Bluetooth to a smartphone or tablet. For example, vowel sounds can be "written" with a single tap of each finger.

The Tap approach has great potential for virtual reality (VR), because  unlike a tablet or PC, the user of a VR headset more often moves and does not sit still  during sessions in virtual space. Standard input devices limit freedom. At the same time , virtual reality will simply not see a standard keyboard in glasses, so  there will be no sense from it without blind printing skills. Therefore , Tap believes that the "keyboard on the fingers" will be a good alternative.

Google in 2015 demonstrated the Project Soli mini-radar, which changes the principle of human interaction with an electronic device. The gadget allows you to simply place your hand above the sensor and move your fingers to enter text.

widdler

Promising was the development of a Twiddler device that combines keyboard and mouse functions. At the same time, the gadget works as a remote control and can be held with one hand. It is used as a peripheral for work and play. Twiddler is used with laptops, desktops and smartphones based on Android.^[1]

1978: Prototype keyboard at Apple

Apple founders Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak with a prototype keyboard, 1978.

See also

• Ergonomics and hygiene of the workplace at the computer

Notes