HTC Suffers Rube Goldberg Moment

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/05/14/accelerometer-dependent-text-entry-patent-from-htc-sounds-like-m/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/...-sounds-like-m/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"HTC has filed for a patent that would have your phone determine which character you meant to type by analyzing its current tilt at the time you press a key, the idea being that a single key could be responsible for entering as many as five different letters and numbers."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/ppct/auto/1242657413.usr14226.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>To me, an efficient text entry system is one that minimizes the physical movements you have to make. While I love ink-based systems for note taking, I'm still way faster with a physical keyboard for pure text entry, irrespective of whether I'm using my phone, my UMPC or my laptop. This patent though seems designed to &lt;i&gt;maximize&lt;/i&gt; movements instead. It's a neat idea, but it's like they were trying to figure out more cool ways to use an accelerometer rather than any serious attempt at anything actually useful.</p>

[Gerard]

Here's a notion. Not terribly likely, but... what if they were thinking about repetitive strain disorder? Tendonitis? I've often suffered a 'writer's cramp' when writing large volumes of characters into a PPC using a stylus and Letter Recognizer. Actually more when it was called Character Recognizer in the earliest editions of PPCs, before getting a keyboard. My first couple of hundred postings here, and couple of thousand on PocketPCPassion and a few other boards, were all entered into my first two Casio devices using a stylus. Burned holes through the top layers of half a dozen high end screen protectors before getting a keyboard. And the tendons linking to my writing suffered to the point of burning and a lot of tension in the wrist, besides just forearm pain. Considering that much of my living is earned carving, well, that was not good. So getting a keyboard was a great relief. Motion largely unrelated to carving and other tool use.

But with a text entry system like this, the hand holding the device would be in constant, gentle motion, turning through the whole compass in rapid little movements. This motion might just alleviate some of the static overuse problems associated with large volumes of input. There are no shortage of cases these days of 'blackberry thumb' according to articles I've seen. Just a possibility, though I know not overly likely.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I'd actually thought of that - but I'm not sure that gently waving around best describes this. I've got an accelerometer on my Advantage, which is used to scroll through web pages. The degree of control you have to have to get it to stop exactly where you want it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, especially with five different positions per key press.