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Re: Twiddler study now public; advice on learning

attempted to read the paper . . . but got an error message that "login
attempt was denied".  is everyone else having this problem??
--mark

----- Original Message -----
From: "ThadV Starner" <>
To: "Steve Barr" <>
Cc: <>
Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 11:22 PM
Subject: Twiddler study now public; advice on learning

The technical report is now public.  See

http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/research/techreports.html
Technical Report 03-37 (at the bottom)

it should answer many of the questions.

Steve-  There are a few tricks to typing on the
Twiddler that Handykey doesn't talk about in the
manual.  Let's see if I can walk you through it.

1)  Select which hand you are going to use and put
the strap on the appropriate side
2)  Undo the velcro
3)  Hold the Twiddler so that your fingers are
bent tightly and are on the buttons closest your
palm.  The finger joints in your palm should be
slightly in front of the front face of the Twiddler.
Put your thumb on the opposite side of the Twiddler.
You should be able to hold the device without the
strap and reach all the buttons (if awkwardly).
Make sure that you are holding the Twiddler such
that your little finger can hit all 3 buttons on
the bottom row.  The little finger is the biggest
problem in fine tuning your Twiddler grip.  The next
step will help.
4) Hold the Twiddler with the finger buttons
facing away from you.  Velcro the strap such that it
is
below your knuckles (below your fingers).  Ideally,
when you press the velcro against the bottom of the
Twiddler there is a slightly angle towards your body
(i.e. the edge of the strap is not quite parallel
to the front of the Twiddler).  This helps twisting.
5)  Take some glue and glue the top of the strap
in the slot close to the top of the Twiddler.  Without
glue, the strap can slip in the slot, causing the
Twiddler to rotate on your hand.
6)  Keep your thumb against the side of the Twiddler
as much as possible when you type (i.e. if the strap
broke, you would still maintain a hold
on the Twiddler).   A lot of people put their thumb
on the same side as their palm, which is what the
Handykey manual shows.  This technique, in my
opinion, causes the Twiddler to rotate too much.
7)  Download our Java Twiddler tutor (Twidor) and
practice in 20minute sessions.  You'll get
quick much faster than you expect.
http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/ccg/projects/twidor/download.html

Just like learning a musical instrument (guitar,
clarinet, etc.) or the QWERTY keyboard for the first
time, your fingers will get tired and strained easily
as a novice.  However, I found that after the first
week of using the Twiddler as my primary keyboard,
this when away.

Informally, I've found guitar players pick up the
Twiddler faster than someone who doesn't.  One
tantilizing thing we are seeing in the data is that
the people who learn the Twiddler the fastest
press the keys in a chord simultaneously instead
of sequentially.  We're still doing analysis.

BTW, the Twidor will be getting more advanced in
the future as we continue the research.
Currently, it is just what we used
in the study, without the timed sessions.

USB Twiddlers work directly on Macintosh laptops.
I use an iBook for demos.

                            Thad Starner

--- Steve Barr <> wrote:
> ThadV Starner wrote:
>  > Results?:  Better than expected. average 26.6wpm
> in <
>  > 7 hours of practice, learning curves faster than
>  > anything else we've found in the literature so
> far (including
>  > desktop keyboards), touch typing mostly in the
> first session
>  > (using our tutor), and expert rates in the
> 60-70wpm range.
>
> Any tips on how to attach the Twiddler to the hand
> to get this speed?  I know I'd be faster with it if
> it didn't twist in my hand each time I try and press
> a chord.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
> --
> http://www.stevebarr.com
> "Your lips should remain unmoved."
> All 100% my own opinions.
>

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