Text No More: New App Brings Air-Writing to Cell Phones
Cell phone developers are constantly trying to address the problem of text input on mobile devices. Over the years, we've seen input systems ranging from full QWERTY keyboards and nine key predictive text systems (like T9) to virtual keyboards. New research suggests the answer may not be in the keys at all. According to LiveScience, researchers at Duke University have developed a prototype for the PhonePoint Pen, a cell phone app that allows users to "air-write" short notes.
The app functions as if the cell phone is a pen (though it will probably feel more like writing with a piece of sidewalk chalk); tracing letters or shapes in the air transfers inputs them into the phone's text field. How does it work? The air-writing app works by using the accelerometers (which track the phone's orientation) already inside smartphones like the iPhone. If you prefer texting on the move (hardly the safest practice, especially if you're driving or crossing a street) this could wind up being the app for you.
"We're trying to get past the whole idea of typing on a keyboard or using a stylus to enter information into devices," Romit Roy Choudhury, an engineer at Duke, told LiveScience.
While the app could be available in the next few months, there are still plenty of kinks to work out. For example, you have to pause between each letter and the app doesn't recognize cursive. Interesting concept, sure, but is going back to handwriting really the best route? As clunky as even predictive text can be, it's still usually faster than writing out notes by hand. [From: LiveScience]
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