Yet another finger keybord (gui mock-up).

[Jonathon Suggs]

Gabriel Ambuehl wrote:
> Clear yes, but also about 3 times smaller than on your desktop screen...
>   
First, I really like this idea for input and think it has potential to 
being very intuitive while allowing a decent input rate.

That said, the screen size (and corresponding button size) is an issue 
to be conscious of.  You want to find the happy medium where you make 
the most efficient use of as little space as possible.  As you make the 
button input area larger, you are taking up more of the application 
area.  But without seeing how this would look on the actual device, it 
at least looks like a good ratio.
>
> Which gives rise to the question of how to best arrange them...
>   
That is a question that people will probably have different opinions 
on.  How much effort would it be to have several different layouts.  
Some with more characters, some with less.  Some more similar to qwerty 
other more sequential (abc...) and possibly others mimicking fitaly.  
You could define your default layout as a preference.  And you could 
switch between layouts at any time (possibly via the scroll-wheel or 
other method).
> Add another button that allows to tap shortcuts (for example like it is done 
> in some of the vnc clients). In general, I find I'm using LESS keys for 
> terminal work than for text entry. YMMV.
>   
See everybody has their own unique usage requirements.  So lets keep it 
flexible to accommodate the most amount of people possible.
>> I think the size is close to optimal with 6 buttons wide (but it must be
>> tested on a neo to be sure). The total area is not to big and high, and
>> the 'drags' is not so long. 
>>     
>
> If you use drag vectors instead of actual taps on the buttons, you might get 
> away with very short drags, really.
>   
Exactly.  I don't think it would be that hard.  You've got 60deg of area 
for an accurate hit.  Also, having the background of the keys change as 
you are on the key gives great visual feedback.
> Do you really need all those keys? I generally don't. Then again, I don't plan 
> on doing non emergency work in terminals either... And on a notebook you 
> usually don't have all of them for direct access, either.
>   
Again, just showing that different people have different opinions.  Lets 
try to make it useful for everyone.  I would prefer less keys, but that 
is just me.

Heres another thought.  Don't know how it would work/feel, but it might 
give good tactile feedback to give a quick vibration pulse after every 
key press (on the release).  It might help to minimize the disjoint that 
can sometime happen with you are just touching a flat surface.  One step 
further, it might also help if it gave a quick vibration when you 
dragged into different areas.  That way you could tell via touch when 
you were in the different sectors.

Keep the ideas going.  This is one of the best to come out in a while!