Has anyone explored the possibility of using the "Dasher" - http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/
- software as one possible alphanumeric input system for the PSP?
While the interface seems bizarre at first, it is specifically designed for hardware (or users) without full (or any) keyboards, and would seem a good candidate to operate with the analog stick as the pointer.
When I first experimented with Dasher, it took about 15 minutes or so before I was comfortable with the interface, and now I can just zip along.
I'm not suggesting that Dasher should be the only available interface, but it could play a very useful role for many programs.
Using "Dasher" for alphanumeric input
Dasher is heavy has an input solution for the PSP, because it needs a pointer, like a mouse, a stylus, or an eye tracker.
Rather, consider quickwriting's style, which should be way more adapted to the PSP pad: http://mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/demos/quikwriting.html http://mrl.nyu.edu/projects/quikwriting/
Rather, consider quickwriting's style, which should be way more adapted to the PSP pad: http://mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/demos/quikwriting.html http://mrl.nyu.edu/projects/quikwriting/
pixel: A mischievous magical spirit associated with screen displays. The computer industry has frequently borrowed from mythology. Witness the sprites in computer graphics, the demons in artificial intelligence and the trolls in the marketing department.
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27Bstroke6
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:56 pm
I tend to doubt that any system requiring a "special alphabet" (as does quikwriting as I understand it) would gain wide acceptance. Nor am I suggesting that Dasher would be a suitable interface for the casual user, who likely would want to stick with either a phone-keypad (ouch) or keyboard-style picking array. But for power users the Dasher interface would seem ideal.
It's very difficult to judge Dasher until you've tried it. This is probably its biggest disadvantage -- the unique interface is like nothing most people have ever seen before. But as I mentioned, while there is a (fun) learning curve it is relatively brief, and you quickly find yourself cranking up the speed. The positioning movements are very small and the PSP analog pad/stick should work fine for this purpose.
One key point: While it's not immediately obvious, Dasher is a dictionary-based, learning system. It does not just throw up letters to select from in a random or purely alphabetic sequence, but rather makes its best guess as to which letters will be needed next. This frequently results in utterly uncanny behavior as words form as if the interface were reading your mind, and allows speeds of 25, 35, or even higher words a minute.
Again, it's worth the time to experiment with the demo. And of course, the source is freely available for adaptation, and it has already been ported to various portable devices.
It's very difficult to judge Dasher until you've tried it. This is probably its biggest disadvantage -- the unique interface is like nothing most people have ever seen before. But as I mentioned, while there is a (fun) learning curve it is relatively brief, and you quickly find yourself cranking up the speed. The positioning movements are very small and the PSP analog pad/stick should work fine for this purpose.
One key point: While it's not immediately obvious, Dasher is a dictionary-based, learning system. It does not just throw up letters to select from in a random or purely alphabetic sequence, but rather makes its best guess as to which letters will be needed next. This frequently results in utterly uncanny behavior as words form as if the interface were reading your mind, and allows speeds of 25, 35, or even higher words a minute.
Again, it's worth the time to experiment with the demo. And of course, the source is freely available for adaptation, and it has already been ported to various portable devices.
It may be worth mentionning that I work at the CHI department of my university, and we already worked and published papers about the usability of such softwares and their usages depending on the input device.27Bstroke6 wrote:It's very difficult to judge Dasher until you've tried it...
[...]Again, it's worth the time to experiment with the demo. And of course, the source is freely available for adaptation, and it has already been ported to various portable devices.
Because maybe there are some better and way faster solutions ?mrbrown wrote:Why is everyone looking to external solutions for an onscreen keyboard? The PSP's OS has an OSK module built in (part of the utility library).
pixel: A mischievous magical spirit associated with screen displays. The computer industry has frequently borrowed from mythology. Witness the sprites in computer graphics, the demons in artificial intelligence and the trolls in the marketing department.
As someone mentioned on IRC, the mobilephone-like (T9) keyboard (that you get when entering Nickname etc) sucks, so an alternative would be nice.mrbrown wrote:Why is everyone looking to external solutions for an onscreen keyboard? The PSP's OS has an OSK module built in (part of the utility library).
Also has anyone figured out how to use the OSK yet?
So, is any work being done on this? This seems like the ideal solution, but it might be hard to get people to adopt it, since it seems so awkward, at first. Maybe there could be a generic text-entry interface, so a program can link to that generic interface, which can link to dasher, keyboard or cell-phone style (or more) interfaces. I spent a few minutes with dasher and was easily able to train it to type web and email adresses, it would be a godsend once (if?) a homebrew browser shows up.