Alan Ricardo Lanov
2004 portable computers allow you to make commands or enter text using an electronic pen on your screen, which may usher in a new era of information sharing.
However, pen computers like Microsoft tablets have only achieved tepid success. writing notes on handheld computers requires learning a shorthand.
Point and click-
Using a screen icon for a digital pen can be cumbersome and counter-intuitive, writing on longhand's screen is much slower than typing.
The huge changing factors of handwriting and shorthand, it is no wonder that computers can hardly recognize them.
"It's not surprising that a lot of people have a hard time identifying their handwriting, so computers can't recognize it," said human Professor Brad Myers.
Institute of Computer Interaction, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
Now researchers are designing new ways to interact with tablets and other pensBased on computers.
These machines use a special version of Microsoft Windows and a digitizer under the screen that samples strokes, allowing users to write in digital "ink" and on-
On-screen keyboard, navigate their desktop and folders with stylus instead of mouse.
This study can make it easier to input text quickly and accurately, and can encourage collaboration by introducing gesture commands to make friends and colleagues
The staff can share photos and documents with a flick of a pen.
"We are all aware that the desktop computing platform is mature and we need to go beyond that and create an environment for mobile," said Zhai Min, a researcher of mine. B. M.
Almaden Research Center in California"But point-and-
Clicking on the interface means tablets and tablets. D. A.
I am in pain because their screen is smaller.
They do have an advantage. -a stylus --
But it has not yet fully adapted to its ability.
Advertising last month
Zhai and his team released a software called Shark.
Auxiliary quick keyboard on I boarding. B. M.
AlphaWorks website (alphaworks. ibm. com)
The company previews emerging technologies from the lab.
The software replaces the standard on-
The screen keyboard that a tablet usually displays with a stylus-
Friendly keyboard, place common letter combinations close to each other in hexagonal grids.
The user writes the word by tracking the stylus on the virtual key to form a Dr.
Incoming call from nessokgraphs.
Whenever a user tracks a word, the computer displays the shape on the screen.
After enough practice, he said, "You learn so much shape that you can make gestures based on memory . ".
At the same time, the keyboard remains on the screen as a mnemonic device.
Built-in tolerance for tilt.
The algorithm recognizes that some letter combinations are more likely to form words than others, so users can deviate from the exact shape of each symbol.
Sharks include vocabulary of about 8,000 words that can analyze emails
Learn new mail and text files.
According to the user test, one can learn about 15 sokgraph words in every 45 words
Minutes of training
Doctor, learning 100 patterns covers about 40% of the words that most people writeZhai said.
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Human director Ben Bedson
The University of Maryland's Computer Interaction Lab says the shark project "is an example of an interface that allows you to change from a novice to an expert with the same interaction.
He added, "you think the word'' performs gestures without a lot of visual feedback and attention.
"Getting people to focus on their work, not computers, is also the goal of Microsoft Research scientist Ken Hinkley. Dr.
Hinkley has developed a software technology called "Stitching" that allows tablet and handheld users to share files by aligning pens to the screens of people they want to share.
"If I am in a meeting and want to send you a document, the conversation is over and I have to ask you for your email
"The email address," he said.
"Some devices have infrared ports, but you'll be embarrassed to arrange them and put them in the right mode.
With this approach, you can keep your attention in the real world, or you can keep your attention with the people you work.
"The prototype software called StitchMaster allows users to select photos on a tablet by clicking or circled a set of photos, and then by making a gesture on both screens, wirelessly pass these files to another tablet user at arm's fingertips.
Stitching works by measuring the time, angle, and exit position of the pen gesture that leaves the edge of the machine's screen.
Because tablets can broadcast their Internet addresses using 802.
11 wireless network standard, if the second machine within 2 feet and a half picks up the continuation of the pen stroke at its edge, the software can judge which machine sent it and infer the switch.
Microsoft's usability test shows that more than a dozen participants were able to connect their tablets in this way during their first or second attempts.
But some people come into contact with another person's computer and even put their machines too close together to be uncomfortable. Dr.
Hinkley's latest work, which he calls collaborative stitching, aims to solve the problem by dragging the file to the top of the user's screen and having the user pass the document to several people sitting longer than their arms.
Then those in the room who want the file can pull it down from the top of the screen.
According to Andy Van Damm, professor of computer science and vice president of research at Brown University, he is also the Microsoft Technical Research Advisory Board, tablet and other pen-
It is not until the gesture provides a new way to interact with the machine, rather than simply replacing the mouse that the driven computer will take off.
Pen computers can find markets in the fields of education, architecture, graphic design and users --
Interface design, he said.
"For these people, a pencil and a piece of paper are more natural than the computer keyboard on the desktop.
He said: "But the pen software needs more testing to find out what the user really wants.
A relatively pure gesture
"Driver user interface, this is all research," he said . ".
"None of this has been tested on site with thousands of users, not to mention 10,000.
There won't be gestures for everyone, so I don't want to impose them.
But we can give them a choice.
"We are constantly improving the quality of our text archives.
Please send feedback, error reports, and suggestions to archid_feedback @ nytimes. com.
A version of this article was printed on November 11, 2004 and on the national G00007 page, the title is: what is the next step;
Trying to make the pen as powerful as a keyboard.