ZoomBoard: a diminutive qwerty soft keyboard using iterative zooming for ultra-small devices
Abstract
The proliferation of touchscreen devices has made soft keyboards a routine part of life. However, ultra-small computing platforms like the Sony SmartWatch and Apple iPod Nano lack a means of text entry. This limits their potential, despite the fact they are quite capable computers. In this work, we present a soft keyboard interaction technique called ZoomBoard that enables text entry on ultra-small devices. Our approach uses iterative zooming to enlarge otherwise impossibly tiny keys to comfortable size. We based our design on a QWERTY layout, so that it is immediately familiar to users and leverages existing skill. As the ultimate test, we ran a text entry experiment on a keyboard measuring just 16 x 6mm - smaller than a US penny. After eight practice trials, users achieved an average of 9.3 words per minute, with accuracy comparable to a full-sized physical keyboard. This compares favorably to existing mobile text input methods.
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The preliminary experiment showed promising input rate from zoom-board interaction.
“The preliminary experiment showed promising input rate from zoom-board interaction [79].”
From Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review (2017) · cites this paper as [79]
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The Computer for the 21st Century
Weiser, M. (1991) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0991-94 · Cited by 10,017 · see citing works
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Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review
Punchoojit, L., & Hongwarittorrn, N. (2017) · Advances in Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1155/2017/6787504 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
WatchWriter: Tap and Gesture Typing on a Smartwatch Miniature Keyboard with Statistical Decoding
Gordon, M., Ouyang, T., & Zhai, S. (2016) · Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2858036.2858242 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Zhong, Y., Weber, A., Burkhardt, C., Weaver, P., & Bigham, J. P. (2015) · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference · doi:10.1145/2745555.2747277 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
FingerText: Exploring and Optimizing Performance for Wearable, Mobile and One-Handed Typing
Lee, D., Kim, J., & Oakley, I. (2021) · Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3411764.3445106 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Vouch: multimodal touch-and-voice input for smart watches under difficult operating conditions
Lee, J., Lee, C., & Kim, G. J. (2017) · Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces · doi:10.1007/s12193-017-0246-y · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Text entry for the Blind on Smartwatches: A study of Braille code input methods for a novel device
Luna, M. M., Nascimento, H. A. D., Quigley, A., & Soares, F. (2023) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-022-00870-2 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Braille text entry on smartwatches: an evaluation of methods for composing the Braille cell
Luna, M. M., de M. N. Soares, F. A. A., Nascimento, H. A. D., & Quigley, A. (2019) · Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3319499.3328233 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
A One-Page Text Entry Method Optimized for Rectangle Smartwatches
Jang, R., Jung, C., Mohaisen, D., Lee, K., & Nyang, D. (2022) · IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing · doi:10.1109/tmc.2021.3057226 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Eyes-Free Text Entry with EdgeWrite Alphabets for Round-Face Smartwatches
Go, K., Kikawa, M., Kinoshita, Y., & Mao, X. (2019) · 2019 International Conference on Cyberworlds (CW) · doi:10.1109/cw.2019.00037 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Computational Design of Input Methods
Feit, A. M. (2017) · Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3027063.3027134 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Oney, S., Harrison, C., Ogan, A., & Wiese, J.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2013-04-27
- Pages
- 2799-2802
- OpenAlex
- W2112261049
- Cited by
- 218
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 15.12
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Interactive and Immersive Displays
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Keywords
- virtual keyboard, text entry, QWERTY layout, touch screen input, wearable computers, key size
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