UNIT -5:

Keyboard Layouts

QWERTY layout
– 1870 Christopher LathamSholes
– good mechanical design and a clever placement of the letters that slowed down the
users enough that key jamming wasinfrequent
– put frequently used letter pairs far apart, thereby increasing finger travel
distances

Dvorak layout
– 1920
– reduces finger travel distances by at least one order ofmagnitude
– Acceptance has been slow despite the dedicated efforts of somedevotees
– it takes about 1 week of regular typing to make the switch, but most users have been
unwilling to invest theeffort

ABCDE style
– 26 letters of the alphabet laid out in alphabetical order nontypists will find it easier
to locate thekeys
Additional keyboard issues
– IBM PC keyboard was widely criticized because of the placement of afew keys

• backslash key where most typists expect SHIFTkey

• placement of several special characters near the ENTERkey
– Number padlayout
– wrist and handplacement
Keys
– 1/2 inch squarekeys
– 1/4 inch spacing betweenkeys
– slight concavesurface
– matte finish to reduce glare fingerslippage
– 40- to 125-gram force toactivate
– 3 to 5 millimeters displacement

– tactile and audible feedbackimportant

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 – certain keys should be larger (e.g. ENTER, SHIFT,CTRL)
– some keys require state indicator, such as lowered position or light indicator (e.g.
CAPS LOCK)
– key labels should be large, meaningful,permanent
– some "home" keys may have additional features, such as deeper cavityor small
raised dot, to help user locate their fingers properly (caution - no standard
forthis)

Function keys
– users must either remember each key's function, identify them from the screen's
display, or use a template over the keys in order to identify them properly
– can reduce number of keystrokes anderrors
– meaning of each key can change with each application placement on keyboard can
affect efficientuse
– special-purpose displays often embed function keys in monitorbezel
– lights next to keys used to indicate availability of the function, or on/offstatus
– typically simply labeled F1, F2, etc, though some may also have meaningful labels,
such as CUT, COPY,etc.
– frequent movement between keyboard home position and mouse or function keys can
be disruptive touse
– alternative is to use closer keys (e.g. ALT or CTRL) and one letter to indicate
specialfunction

Cursor movement keys

– up, down, left,right
– some keyboards also providediagonals
– best layout is naturalpositions
– inverted-T positioning allows users to place their middle three fingers in a way that
reduces hand and fingermovement
– cross arrangement better for novices than linear orbox
– typically include typamatic (auto-repeat)feature
– important for form-fillin and directmanipulation
– other movements may be performed with other keys, such as TAB, ENTER,
HOME,etc.

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Keyboard and keypads for small devices
– Wireless or foldablekeyboards
– Virtualkeyboards
– Clothkeyboards
– Softkeys
– Pens andtouchscreens

Pointing Devices
Pointing devices are applicable in six types of interaction tasks:
1. Select:
– user chooses from a set of items.
– used for traditional menu selection, identification of a file in a directory, or
marking of a part in an automobiledesign.
2. Position:
– user chooses a point in a one-, two-, three-, or higher-dimensionalspace
– used to create a drawing, to place a new window, or to drag a block of text in a figure.
3. Orient:
– user chooses a direction in a two-, three-, or higher-dimensionalspace.
– direction may simply rotate a symbol on the screen, indicate a direction of
motion for a space ship, or control the operation of a robotarm.
4. Path:
– user rapidly performs a series of position and orientoperations.
– may be realized as a curving line in a drawing program, the instructions for a cloth
cutting machine, or the route on amap.
5. Quantify:
– user specifies a numericvalue.
– usually a one-dimensional selection of integer or real values to set parameters, such
as the page number in a document, the velocity of a ship, or theamplitude of asound.
6. Text:
– user enters, moves, and edits text in a two-dimensional space.The
– pointing device indicates the location of an insertion, deletion, orchange.
– more elaborate tasks, such as centering; margin setting; font sizes;
highlighting, such as boldface or underscore; and pagelayout.
Direct-control pointing devices lightpen
– enabled users to point to a spot on a screen and to perform a select, position, or
othertask

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 – it allows direct control by pointing to a spot on the display
– incorporates a button for the user to press when the cursor is resting on the
desired spot on thescreen
– lightpen has three disadvantages: users' hands obscured part of the screen, users
had to remove their hands from the keyboard, and users had to pickup the lightpen

Touchscreen
– allows direct control touches on the screen using afinger
– early designs were rightly criticized for causing fatigue, hand-obscuring-the- screen,
hand-off-keyboard, imprecise pointing, and the eventual smudging of the display
– lift-off strategy enables users to point at a singlepixel
– the users touch thesurface
– then see a cursor that they can drag around on thedisplay
– when the users are satisfied with the position, they lift their fingers off the display
toactivate
– can produce varied displays to suit thetask

– are fabricated integrally with displaysurfaces

Tablet PCs and Mobile Devices:

• Natural to point on the LCDsurface
• Stylus
• Keep context inview
• Pick up & put downstylus
• Gestures and handwritingrecognition

Indirect pointing devices

• mouse
– the hand rests in a comfortable position, buttons on the mouse are easily pressed,even long
motions can be rapid, and positioning can beprecise
• trackball
– usually implemented as a rotating ball 1 to 6 inches in diameter that moves acursor

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• joystick
– are appealing for tracking purposes
• graphics tablet
– a touch-sensitive surface separate from the screen
• touchpad
– built-in near the keyboard offers the convenience and precision of a touchscreenwhile
keeping the user's hand off the displaysurface
• Human-factorsvariables
– speed of motion for short and longdistances
– accuracy ofpositioning
– errorrates
– learningtime
– usersatisfaction
• Othervariables
– cost
– durability
– space requirements
– weight
– left- versus right-handuse
– likelihood to cause repetitive-straininjury
– compatibility with othersystems

Comparison of pointing devices

• Some results
– direct pointing devices faster, but lessaccurate
– graphics tablets are appealing when user can remain with device for long periods
without switching tokeyboard
– mouse is faster than isometricjoystick
– for tasks that mix typing and pointing, cursor keys a faster and are preferred by users to
amouse
– muscular strain is low for cursorkeys
• Fitts'Law
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– Index of difficulty = log2 (2D /W)
– Time to point = C1 + C2 (index of difficulty)
– C1 and C2 and constants that depend on thedevice
– Index of difficulty is log2 (2*8/1) = log2(16) = 4bits
– A three-component equation was thus more suited for the high-precision pointingtask:
– Time for precision pointing = C1 + C2 (index of difficulty) + C3 log2 (C4 /W)

Novel devices
• Footcontrols
• Eye-tracking
• Multiple-degrees-of-freedomdevices
• DataGlove
• Hapticfeedback
• Bimanualinput
• Ubiquitous computing and tangible userinterfaces
• Handhelddevices

Speech and auditory interfaces

• Speech recognition still does not match the fantasy of sciencefiction:
– demands of user's workingmemory
– background noiseproblematic
– variations in user speech performance impactseffectiveness
– most useful in specific applications, such as to benefit handicappedusers

• Discrete wordrecognition
– recognize individual words spoken by a specific person; can work with 90- to98-
percent reliability for 20 to 200 wordvocabularies
– Speaker-dependent training, in which the user repeats the full vocabulary once or twice
– Speaker-independent systems are beginning to be reliable enough for certain
commercialapplications
– been successful in enabling bedridden, paralyzed, or otherwise disabledpeople
– also useful in applications with at least one of the followingconditions:
• speaker's hands areoccupied

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 • mobility isrequired
• speaker's eyes are occupied
• harsh or cramped conditions preclude use ofkeyboard
– voice-controlled editor versus keyboardeditor
• lower task-completionrate
• lower errorrate
– use can disrupt problemsolving
• Continuous-speechrecognition
– Not generallyavailable:
• difficulty in recognizing boundaries between spokenwords
• normal speech patterns blurboundaries
• many potentially useful applications ifperfected
• Speech store andforward
– Voice mail userscan
• receivemessages
• replaymessages
• reply tocaller
• forward messages to other users, deletemessages
• archivemessages
• Systems are low cost andreliable.
• Voice informationsystems
– Stored speech commonly used to provide information about touristsites,
government services, after-hours messages fororganizations
– Low cost
– Voice prompts
– Deep and complex menusfrustrating
– Slow pace of voice output, ephemeral nature of speech, scanningand
searchingproblems
– Voicemail
– Handheld voicerecorders
– Audiobooks

– Instructionalsystems
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• Speechgeneration
– Michaelis and Wiggins (1982) suggest that speech generationis
"frequently preferable" under thesecircumstances:

• The message issimple.

• The message isshort.
• The message will not be referred tolater.
• The message deals with events intime.
• The message requires an immediateresponse.
• The visual channels of communication areoverloaded.
• The environment is too brightly lit, too poorly lit, subject to severe
vibration, or otherwise unsuitable for transmission of visual
information.
• The user must be free to movearound.

• The user is subjected to high G forces oranoxia

Audio tones, audiolization, and music

– Sound feedback can beimportant:
• to confirmactions
• offerwarning
• for visually-impairedusers
• music used to provide mood context, e.g. ingames
• can provide unique opportunities for user, e.g. withsimulating
various musicalinstruments

Displays – Small and Large

• The display has become the primary source of feedback to the user fromthe
computer
– The display has many important features,including:
• Physical dimensions (usually the diagonal dimension anddepth)
• Resolution (the number of pixelsavailable)
• Number of available colors, colorcorrectness
• Luminance, contrast, andglare

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 • Powerconsumption
• Refresh rates (sufficient to allow animation andvideo)
• Cost
• Reliability
Usage characteristics distinguish displays:
• Portability
• Privacy
• Saliency
• Ubiquity
• Simultaneity
Displaytechnology

• Monochrome displays
– are adequate, and are attractive because of their lowercost

• RGB shadow-maskdisplays
– small dots of red, green, and blue phosphors packedclosely

• Raster-scan cathode-ray tube(CRT)

– electron beam sweeping out lines of dots to formletters
– refresh rates 30 to 70 persecond

• Liquid-crystal displays(LCDs)
– voltage changes influence the polarization of tiny capsules of liquidcrystals
– flicker-free
– size of the capsules limits the resolution

• Plasma panel
– rows of horizontal wires are slightly separated from vertical wires bysmall glass-
enclosed capsules of neon-basedgases

• Light-emitting diodes(LEDs)
– certain diodes emit light when a voltage isapplied
– arrays of these small diodes can be assembled to displaycharacters
• Electronicink

– Paper likeresolution

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 – Tiny capsules with negatively and positively chargedparticles
• Braille displays
– Pins provide output for theblind
• Large displays
– Informational walldisplays
– Interactive walldisplays
– Multiple desktopdisplays
• Heads-up and helmet mounteddisplays
– A heads-up display can, for instance, project information on apartially
silvered widescreen of an airplane orcar
– A helmet/head mounted display (HMD) moves the image with theuser

– 3D images

Mobile device displays

• Currently mobile devices used for brief tasks, except for gameplaying
• Optimize for repetitivetasks
• Custom designs to take advantage of everypixel
• DataLens allows compactoverviews
• Web browsingdifficult
• Okay for linear reading, but making comparisons can bedifficult

Animation, image, and video

• Accelerated graphicshardware
• More information shared and downloaded on theweb
• Scanning of images andOCR
• Digitalvideo
• CDROMS andDVDs
• Compression and decompression throughMPEG

• Computer-based videoconferencing

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Printers
• Important criteria forprinters:
– Speed
– Printquality
– Cost
– Compactness
– Quietoperation
– Use of ordinary paper (fanfolded or singlesheet)
– Characterset
– Variety of typefaces, fonts, andsizes
– Highlighting techniques (boldface, underscore, and soon)
– Support for special forms (printed forms, different lengths, and soon)
– Reliability
• dot-matrixprinters
– print more than 200 characters per second, have multiple fonts, can print
boldface,use variable width and size, and have graphicscapabilities
• inkjetprinters
– offer quiet operation and high-qualityoutput
• thermal printers or fax machines
– offer quiet, compact, and inexpensive output on specially coatedpapers
• laserprinters
– operate at 30,000 lines perminute
• colorprinters
– allow users to produce hardcopy output of color graphics, usually by
aninkjet approach with three colored and blackinks
• photographic printers
– allow the creation of 35-millimeter or larger slides (transparencies)
andphotographic prints

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