Extending Mobile User Ambient Awareness for Nomadic Text Entry Inproceedings

Abstract:

Nowadays, we input text not only on stationary devices, but also on handheld devices while walking, driving, or commuting. Text entry on the move, which we term as nomadic text entry, is generally slower. This is partially due to the need for users to move their visual focus from the device to their surroundings for navigational purposes and back. To investigate if better feedback about users' surroundings on the device can improve performance, we present a number of new and existing feedback systems: textual, visual, textual & visual, and textual & visual via translucent keyboard. Experimental comparisons between the conventional and these techniques established that increased ambient awareness for mobile users enhances nomadic text entry performance. Results showed that the textual and the textual & visual via translucent keyboard conditions increased text entry speed by 14% and 11%, respectively, and reduced the error rate by 13% compared to the regular technique. The two methods also significantly reduced the number of collisions with obstacles.