One-press control & WYTIWYG (2009)

One-press control & WYTIWYG are two related projects we realized for the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2009) Student Innovation Contest in October 2009.

As part of the UIST Student Innovation Contest we were provided with a pressure-sensitive keyboard. We developed a tactile input method for such pressure-sensitive keyboards. The method, which we named one-press control, is based on the detection and classification of pressing movements on an already held-down key. Our method has many applications, for example, simplifying existing interactions by replacing modifier key combinations with single key presses. Furthermore, we proposed a new interaction model that makes use of the proposed technique. This interaction model is named What You Touch Is What You Get (WYTIWYG). Here, the one-press control input method is used to navigate interaction options, get full previews of potential outcomes, and then either commit to one or abort altogether all in the space of one key depress / release cycle. We have conducted a user evaluation of the one-press control interaction. The user testing indicated some remaining implementation issues, as well as that the technique can be learned within about a quarter of an hour of hands-on operating practice time.

The follow-up paper One-press control: a tactile input method for pressure-sensitive computer keyboards is available in the electronic CHI Extended Abstracts Proceedings in the ACM Digital Library.

Team: Staas de Jong, Jeroen Jillissen, Dünya Kirkali, Alwin de Rooij, Hanna Schraffenberger and Arnout Terpstra
poster One-press control poster WYTIWYG