March 4, 2014 at 15:34Overview of back-typing keyboards
Back-typing (back-type, less often - rear-type), as the name implies, is a way of arranging input elements on the back of the device. (Of course, the word “back-typing” is absent in the Russian language, but I don't like something “rear-printing”, so in this review I propose to dwell on the first option.) The Octodon keyboard is an unconditional example of back-typing, but not the only and not even first.
Mankind is already offering us a fair amount of back-typing solutions, and I think it will be interesting for hawkers to take a closer look at them.
(Tina Fey, photo by Bust Magazine)
Where did the idea of back-uping come from? Probably for the same reason that AlexLysenko proceeded from, inventing Oktodon: smartphones and tablets are quite small, the user's fingers while holding the device are on the back side. So why not keep your fingers busy and free the screen from the keyboard?
It's pretty hard to pinpoint who was the first, but it seems that Canadians used the idea of back-typing in the Twiddler chord keyboard .
The Twiddler crank seems quite ergonomic and combines keyboard and mouse functions. Keys 17: 12 on the "back" side + 5 under the thumb (since this is a handle, it is difficult to unambiguously identify one of the sides as the back). To print on it, according to the authors, it is possible with both right and left hand. In one of the reviews (on the manufacturer’s website) it is mentioned that a program with 30,000 lines was written comfortably only on a twidler, without a standard keyboard and mouse. Also in the reviews you can find a mention that someone learned to work with the device in a week, but it was not easy to find the learning curves. And yet, despite the difficulty in learning and working, chord input on Twiddler found its users, and at the moment the device can be purchased, although it costs a lot ($ 220).
Non-chord backping was probably invented by the Americans. The AlphaGrip project started in 2000, they wrote about it in RuNet under the cheerful name " illegitimate son of a gamepad and keyboard ."
I counted 42 input elements, of which 8 are on-off (“rocking” on the back side). Apparently, the device really should be comfortable to hold. In addition, the creators promise that after 30-60 hours of training, you can achieve a speed of 200-300 characters per minute. It seems to us that AlphaGrip has great potential for increasing typing speed, but nevertheless confuse considerable dimensions, which do not quite fit into the idea of the form factor of modern portable devices. It is impossible not to note the complicated arrangement of input elements (some symbols and signs are located on the back side of the device, some on the front), which can make the learning process nontrivial. In at least one independent video reviewThe AlphaGrip browser got confused for a long time in the device, and the summary was: “To print is very unusual, but how a gamepad can be very good.” One way or another, the project found its followers, and the authors claim that they even program 99% of the time on this device:
AlphaGrip is on sale ($ 129 + shipping), and you are guaranteed a refund if you don’t like it.
Grippity Israeli back-up development is based on the concept of keyboard transparency.
That is, the starting point of the project (2004) is the usual QWERTY, but only transparent and on the back side. I really do not want to lose the obvious advantage of QWERTY - the habit of most users to this layout. Printing can be done both on the front and back. Subsequently, the project evolved into the idea of a transparent tablet, for which the authors of Grippity received a patent.
More recently, in December-January, the project went on Kickstarter.but did not receive funding. Grippity looks very interesting - just like in science fiction films, however, judging by everything, it’s not so cool to press fingers on the back of the touch screen, and the promised speed (5 times higher than on a regular tablet) on any video do not demonstrate. Well and probably not all users are ready to change their iPad to a tablet of an unknown manufacturer. As far as I can tell, Grippity is not for sale yet.
When they tell us that Oktodon looks like a button accordion, we think: “You haven’t seen TREWGrip yet ...”
There is nothing wrong with resembling a button accordion - after all, it was he who, apparently, was to some extent the progenitor of all back-uping. The American project TREWGrip arose in 2010 and is designed primarily for those who type blindly on QWERTY, since the keyboard layout is arranged so that the finger on TREWGrip is responsible for the same characters as on a standard keyboard. Potential users can expect to reach 90% of their speed on a full-size keyboard in 8-10 hours of practice. There is a prototype, a patent is being processed.
TREWGrip is universal, any device with a width of up to 5'3 ”can be attached to it, the speed record is 575 characters per minute (for this, the guys found a super-fast printer on QWERTY, but still impressive), but the project on Kickstarter this fall (2013) also not funded (judging by the comments - due to the high price, although it is not much higher than Twiddler). Now TREWGrip is not for sale, however, they made a new site, visited CES - the project is developing.
In the same 2010, the French project also started - AlphaUi , very similar to TREWGrip (and the button accordion!).
The keyboard layout corresponds to the QWERTY layout. In 2014, the project began to actively develop: a new site, several publications on specialized sites, an office in America, the keyboard is presented at CES; design and name have changed - now the product is called Twiky. Twiky is designed for tablets, and it's smaller than TREWGrip or AlphaGrip. The keys on the back of the device are now only 8 (there were 30), they now move to the sides (left-right) + perhaps a central press (previously there were 3 buttons under each finger) - the concept is simplified. Apparently, it’s impossible to buy this keyboard, I haven’t found any data on the (estimated) price.
Again, in 2010, an article by a group of authors appeared .under the auspices of Microsoft Research, dedicated to backping, which mentioned both Grippity, and Twiddler, and some other keyboard solutions. As part of the study, a prototype was made and tested by several people for an hour in order to establish a learning curve. The prototype, working name RearType, was a two-part QWERTY keyboard located on the back of the tablet. From an interesting point, the researchers noted a large spread in print speed among users, from 9 to 47 WPM, lists issues requiring ergonomic research - the shape of the handles, the size and location of the keys. And in general, they note the prospects of this approach to new devices such as TabletPC, UMPC. Recently, we contacted one of the authors of this study and asked if this development was somehow continued. He said, that more research in this area is not involved. Thus, it can be said that the fallen Microsoft RearType banner was chosen by the team of the already mentioned TREWGrip, which brought to the logical and ergonomic completion the concept of half-turned and rotated QWERTY.
The Russian project of 2010, so fruitful for backping.
We already talked about Oktodon in detail earlier , the current speed capabilities (400 characters per minute) were also demonstrated , its key features are caused by the desire to make the device pocket-sized and lack of binding to QWERTY.
Almost all back-typing keyboards are positioned as gaming devices.
The first devices were positioned as a replacement for the standard keyboard, now the vector has shifted towards the accessory, which is firmly connected to the device or even part of the device (transparent Grippity tablet).
It is strange that most solutions in the field of back-typing do not find the courage or do not consider it necessary to deviate from QWERTY. But these are just those who bring to the banner “the end of the QWERTY era” and “a new type of keyboard”. When we “learned” QWERTY even in AlphaGrip, we were surprised. In this sense, Octodon stands apart, since QWERTY was abandoned initially, as it was not optimal in a handheld device. The same Microsoft research testifies that acquaintance with QWERTY does not always give an advantage when switching to backping.
From the point of view of training, it should be borne in mind that even if we take the familiar QWERTY and transfer it to the back side, the movements of the fingers still change, and still it is necessary to acquire a new mechanical skill. Saving occurs except at the time of searching for a letter in a familiar / unfamiliar layout.
The complexity of learning to work on a back-tapping device depends on a number of factors, both “mechanical” (the convenience of holding the device, its weight, the particular arrangement of the buttons on the device and their number, thoughtful layout), and “human” (good memory, print speed, finger mobility, musical instrument experience).
Most of the above devices are still designed for tablets, not smartphones. It’s convenient to hold AlphaGrip or TrewGrip, but you won’t be able to put such a device in your pocket anymore - they simply won’t fit there and weigh about 300 grams. Twiddler exists as a separate keyboard, and not a single unit with a smartphone.
Of all the solutions described, Octodon is the lightest (55 gr.) And the most compact. Compactness was achieved due to several unique transformations of the case, such that when folded the keyboard adds only + 3-4 mm of thickness to the dimensions of the smartphone (tablet), and when unfolded it is quite comfortable to hold. This is the only back-transformer.
The number of solutions in the field of back-typing is quite large and diverse, which, in my opinion, shows the severity of the problem of printing on mobile devices, and the fact that this direction of searches is not unpromising.
If someone knows about a significant back-tipping solution that I missed, share the links.
Upd. In the comments norguhtar gave a link to another product -
Eka Tetra began developing chord backing in 2001.
It is possible to use both the right and left hand, it is assumed that the mouse is in the second hand (the project was developed as an alternative keyboard for a computer). Promise speed at the level of 200-250 characters per minute (40-50WPM). The main doubts are ergonomics: Ekapad is quite flat, most likely the girth will not be as comfortable as possible. The Ekapad remote is put on the thumb (there is a special adjustable loop), that is, when typing with the other four fingers, the thumb holds the device. It turns out that the thumb is constantly in tension. Apparently, in order to avoid this, and also to avoid rotation of the device itself on a loop around the thumb, in the picture we see that Ekapad is pressed to the user's stomach. Ergonomically, it seems that Ekapad is losing to Twiddler on all fronts.
Mankind is already offering us a fair amount of back-typing solutions, and I think it will be interesting for hawkers to take a closer look at them.
(Tina Fey, photo by Bust Magazine)
Where did the idea of back-uping come from? Probably for the same reason that AlexLysenko proceeded from, inventing Oktodon: smartphones and tablets are quite small, the user's fingers while holding the device are on the back side. So why not keep your fingers busy and free the screen from the keyboard?
Twiddler
It's pretty hard to pinpoint who was the first, but it seems that Canadians used the idea of back-typing in the Twiddler chord keyboard .
The Twiddler crank seems quite ergonomic and combines keyboard and mouse functions. Keys 17: 12 on the "back" side + 5 under the thumb (since this is a handle, it is difficult to unambiguously identify one of the sides as the back). To print on it, according to the authors, it is possible with both right and left hand. In one of the reviews (on the manufacturer’s website) it is mentioned that a program with 30,000 lines was written comfortably only on a twidler, without a standard keyboard and mouse. Also in the reviews you can find a mention that someone learned to work with the device in a week, but it was not easy to find the learning curves. And yet, despite the difficulty in learning and working, chord input on Twiddler found its users, and at the moment the device can be purchased, although it costs a lot ($ 220).
Alpha grip
Non-chord backping was probably invented by the Americans. The AlphaGrip project started in 2000, they wrote about it in RuNet under the cheerful name " illegitimate son of a gamepad and keyboard ."
I counted 42 input elements, of which 8 are on-off (“rocking” on the back side). Apparently, the device really should be comfortable to hold. In addition, the creators promise that after 30-60 hours of training, you can achieve a speed of 200-300 characters per minute. It seems to us that AlphaGrip has great potential for increasing typing speed, but nevertheless confuse considerable dimensions, which do not quite fit into the idea of the form factor of modern portable devices. It is impossible not to note the complicated arrangement of input elements (some symbols and signs are located on the back side of the device, some on the front), which can make the learning process nontrivial. In at least one independent video reviewThe AlphaGrip browser got confused for a long time in the device, and the summary was: “To print is very unusual, but how a gamepad can be very good.” One way or another, the project found its followers, and the authors claim that they even program 99% of the time on this device:
AlphaGrip is on sale ($ 129 + shipping), and you are guaranteed a refund if you don’t like it.
Grippity
Grippity Israeli back-up development is based on the concept of keyboard transparency.
That is, the starting point of the project (2004) is the usual QWERTY, but only transparent and on the back side. I really do not want to lose the obvious advantage of QWERTY - the habit of most users to this layout. Printing can be done both on the front and back. Subsequently, the project evolved into the idea of a transparent tablet, for which the authors of Grippity received a patent.
More recently, in December-January, the project went on Kickstarter.but did not receive funding. Grippity looks very interesting - just like in science fiction films, however, judging by everything, it’s not so cool to press fingers on the back of the touch screen, and the promised speed (5 times higher than on a regular tablet) on any video do not demonstrate. Well and probably not all users are ready to change their iPad to a tablet of an unknown manufacturer. As far as I can tell, Grippity is not for sale yet.
TREWGrip
When they tell us that Oktodon looks like a button accordion, we think: “You haven’t seen TREWGrip yet ...”
There is nothing wrong with resembling a button accordion - after all, it was he who, apparently, was to some extent the progenitor of all back-uping. The American project TREWGrip arose in 2010 and is designed primarily for those who type blindly on QWERTY, since the keyboard layout is arranged so that the finger on TREWGrip is responsible for the same characters as on a standard keyboard. Potential users can expect to reach 90% of their speed on a full-size keyboard in 8-10 hours of practice. There is a prototype, a patent is being processed.
TREWGrip is universal, any device with a width of up to 5'3 ”can be attached to it, the speed record is 575 characters per minute (for this, the guys found a super-fast printer on QWERTY, but still impressive), but the project on Kickstarter this fall (2013) also not funded (judging by the comments - due to the high price, although it is not much higher than Twiddler). Now TREWGrip is not for sale, however, they made a new site, visited CES - the project is developing.
AlphaUi (Twiky)
In the same 2010, the French project also started - AlphaUi , very similar to TREWGrip (and the button accordion!).
The keyboard layout corresponds to the QWERTY layout. In 2014, the project began to actively develop: a new site, several publications on specialized sites, an office in America, the keyboard is presented at CES; design and name have changed - now the product is called Twiky. Twiky is designed for tablets, and it's smaller than TREWGrip or AlphaGrip. The keys on the back of the device are now only 8 (there were 30), they now move to the sides (left-right) + perhaps a central press (previously there were 3 buttons under each finger) - the concept is simplified. Apparently, it’s impossible to buy this keyboard, I haven’t found any data on the (estimated) price.
Reartype
Again, in 2010, an article by a group of authors appeared .under the auspices of Microsoft Research, dedicated to backping, which mentioned both Grippity, and Twiddler, and some other keyboard solutions. As part of the study, a prototype was made and tested by several people for an hour in order to establish a learning curve. The prototype, working name RearType, was a two-part QWERTY keyboard located on the back of the tablet. From an interesting point, the researchers noted a large spread in print speed among users, from 9 to 47 WPM, lists issues requiring ergonomic research - the shape of the handles, the size and location of the keys. And in general, they note the prospects of this approach to new devices such as TabletPC, UMPC. Recently, we contacted one of the authors of this study and asked if this development was somehow continued. He said, that more research in this area is not involved. Thus, it can be said that the fallen Microsoft RearType banner was chosen by the team of the already mentioned TREWGrip, which brought to the logical and ergonomic completion the concept of half-turned and rotated QWERTY.
Octodon
The Russian project of 2010, so fruitful for backping.
We already talked about Oktodon in detail earlier , the current speed capabilities (400 characters per minute) were also demonstrated , its key features are caused by the desire to make the device pocket-sized and lack of binding to QWERTY.
Instead of output
Almost all back-typing keyboards are positioned as gaming devices.
The first devices were positioned as a replacement for the standard keyboard, now the vector has shifted towards the accessory, which is firmly connected to the device or even part of the device (transparent Grippity tablet).
It is strange that most solutions in the field of back-typing do not find the courage or do not consider it necessary to deviate from QWERTY. But these are just those who bring to the banner “the end of the QWERTY era” and “a new type of keyboard”. When we “learned” QWERTY even in AlphaGrip, we were surprised. In this sense, Octodon stands apart, since QWERTY was abandoned initially, as it was not optimal in a handheld device. The same Microsoft research testifies that acquaintance with QWERTY does not always give an advantage when switching to backping.
From the point of view of training, it should be borne in mind that even if we take the familiar QWERTY and transfer it to the back side, the movements of the fingers still change, and still it is necessary to acquire a new mechanical skill. Saving occurs except at the time of searching for a letter in a familiar / unfamiliar layout.
The complexity of learning to work on a back-tapping device depends on a number of factors, both “mechanical” (the convenience of holding the device, its weight, the particular arrangement of the buttons on the device and their number, thoughtful layout), and “human” (good memory, print speed, finger mobility, musical instrument experience).
Most of the above devices are still designed for tablets, not smartphones. It’s convenient to hold AlphaGrip or TrewGrip, but you won’t be able to put such a device in your pocket anymore - they simply won’t fit there and weigh about 300 grams. Twiddler exists as a separate keyboard, and not a single unit with a smartphone.
Of all the solutions described, Octodon is the lightest (55 gr.) And the most compact. Compactness was achieved due to several unique transformations of the case, such that when folded the keyboard adds only + 3-4 mm of thickness to the dimensions of the smartphone (tablet), and when unfolded it is quite comfortable to hold. This is the only back-transformer.
There are still a lot of inventions from the field of backping, but they are mainly only in patent applications
Here , for example, and here . And there was also an interesting article on Habré on this subject. And there is a lot of everything else that it makes no sense to list in the review, since it did not become a product.
The number of solutions in the field of back-typing is quite large and diverse, which, in my opinion, shows the severity of the problem of printing on mobile devices, and the fact that this direction of searches is not unpromising.
If someone knows about a significant back-tipping solution that I missed, share the links.
Upd. In the comments norguhtar gave a link to another product -
Ekapad
Eka Tetra began developing chord backing in 2001.
It is possible to use both the right and left hand, it is assumed that the mouse is in the second hand (the project was developed as an alternative keyboard for a computer). Promise speed at the level of 200-250 characters per minute (40-50WPM). The main doubts are ergonomics: Ekapad is quite flat, most likely the girth will not be as comfortable as possible. The Ekapad remote is put on the thumb (there is a special adjustable loop), that is, when typing with the other four fingers, the thumb holds the device. It turns out that the thumb is constantly in tension. Apparently, in order to avoid this, and also to avoid rotation of the device itself on a loop around the thumb, in the picture we see that Ekapad is pressed to the user's stomach. Ergonomically, it seems that Ekapad is losing to Twiddler on all fronts.