Context switching for fast key selection in text entry applications

Abstract

This paper presents context switching as an alternative to selection by dwell time. The technique trades screen space for comfort and speed. By replicating the interface on two separate regions called contexts, the user can comfortably explore the whole content of a context without the effects of the Midas touch problem. Focus within a context is set by a short dwell time and fast selection is done by switching contexts. We present experimental results for a text entry application with 7 participants that show significant speed improvement over traditional fixed dwell time gaze controlled keyboards. After 8 sessions, 6 participants were able to type about 12 words per minute (wpm), and the fastest participant was able to type above 20 wpm with error rate under 2%. © 2010 ACM.