NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/comp/misc/4814

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-08 | 7.6 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!usc!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail
From: [e-mail] (Scott Ophof)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Really better? (Different keyboard altogether!)
Date: 8 Jan 1993 00:24:16 -0600
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On 7 Jan 1993 18:22:23 GMT [e-mail] (Carl Johnson) said:
>[e-mail] (Jeffrey L. Sue) writes:
>: I'm really curious about the contention that the DVORAK keyboard is
>:...
>I remember an article that concluded the advantage of dvorak keyboards
>was greatly overstated.  Some studies have stated that dvorak has a 2-3
>times advantage based on finger movement.  This article mentioned that
>...

Well..  There's this other keyboard, based on ergonomic studies,
developed, and in use in The Netherlands.  It's called the Velotype
system.  As to speed, accuracy, and fatigue factors, it beats both
QWERTY/QWERTZ and DVORAK, hands down!

Very roughly, the keyboard layout is something like this:

                  v
         c c c c  v  c c c c     The "c" keys are the consonants,
         c c c c  v  c c c c     digits, and punctuation marks.
         c c c c  v  c c c c     The "v"s indicate the vowels.
         c c c c  v  c c c c     "ns" means "No-Space".
               ns   st           "st" means "Shift-Toggle"

(I may have forgotten some key(-placing)s)...

Note that the two areas of consonants are actually slanted at an
angle of about 15 degrees with the horizontal, in other words the
keyboard looks like a very shallow "V".  The reason is one of
ergonomics; look at how your lower arms are angled towards each
other, but your hands are angled outwards again.  This posture with
normal keyboards is a major cause of fatigue.  The fatigue factor
for Velotype is much lower than for normal keyboards.

Also, the consonants are duplicated on each side of the central
vertical vowel column.  Why follows.

The Velotype system is based on the fact that most words consist of
syllables, which in their turn contain at least one vowel prefixed
and/or suffixed with  consonants.
To make this work, the thumbs are used for vowels, and the other
fingers for consonants on each side.
To "type" a word (like "pressing"), one first builds the syllable
"pres", by depressing the "r" and "p" in the left consonant area
with the fingers of the left hand, the "e" with a thumb, and the "s"
in the right consonant area with a right-hand finger.  When all the
keys you want are depressed, the following will appear on a one-line
screen in front of the typist (built into the keyboard, and angled
comfortably).
Now, and only now, does one release all those keys.  This release
commits the syllable to "paper".  As long as at least one key is
still depressed, one can change the syllable (like using "l" and "b"
instead of "r" and "p" to get "bles").

Why doesn't one get "rpes"?  Or "lbes"?  Because there's this
(removable) chip built-in that is programmed for the peculiarities
of a particular language.  And "rp" or "lb" just ain't normal to
English (UK or otherwise...  ;-) ).
Exchange the chip, and one has another language.
Oh, the vowel of a syllable is centered on that little screen.

OK, let's finish the word.  Press "s" with a left finger in the left
consonant area, "i" with a thumb, and "g" and "n" with the right
fingers in the right consonant area.  *And* with your other thumb
press the "ns" (No-Space) key.  Release the lot, and voila, the
syllable "sing" will be suffinxed to "pres", making "pressing".
Had one not used the "ns" key, one would've got "pres sing", since
the system assumes a space between syllables unless told otherwise.
Also, "gn" is less normal than "ng" in English, so if you want the
word/syllable "sign", you make "sig", and later append "n" to it as
a separate syllable.

Note that there is no SPACE bar; it's done automagically on a
per-syllable basis. And also no RETURN key; who needs it, when the
system contains a word processor (or is hooked up to a computer
system that has one)?

Don't ask me how to write syllables like "school"; I'd have to
follow a course to learn that.  (Maybe as "scho", No-Space + "ol".)
The above I picked up from a demo on TV, a live demo at a computer
show, and some paper blurbs.

As soon as one uses a "." as last character of a "word", the system
assumes the next word is to be capitalised, ie. it will start off a
new sentence.  One uses the "Shift-Toggle" key to cancel this
behaviour for this occurrance.  But one also uses it to capitalise a
word that would normally be lower-cased.

Speed and accuracy:
The TV demo was on a science program back in The Netherlands, where
advertising and hype on TV are frowned upon to a much higher degree
than in North America, so IMHO rather believable.
After a bit of explanation, there was this "contest" between a
highly experienced secretary behind an electric typewriter, and a
young lady who had just had a 4-hour intro course on Velotype (and
hadn't seen one before then!).  They each had the same text, and
each had (I think) 20 minutes or so.
When the "starting pistol" (not a real one  ;-) ) went off, one
could see the fingers of the experienced typist tensely flying over
the keyboard, rattling away.  The Velotypist was *much* more slowly
depressing groups of keys and releasing them, rather relaxed.

Net result?  I don't remember exact figures on typed words & errors,
but do remember clearly that the Velotypist had typed more than
twice as many words, and that the absolute number of errors was less
than half that of the "normal" typist.  Relatively, the Velotypist
had made less than a quarter of the mistakes of the other, and still
with a *much* higher output, with less fatigue.  Asked about how she
felt, I think she said with a grin: "Let's do it again!".
The experienced typist looked rather tired...

Demo at the computer fair:
You males out there, picture this really *BEAUTIFUL* young lady
seated behind an odd looking keyboard.  Would you give that keyboard
even a cursory glance?  Oh, you would, would you?  Betcha 100-1 your
Significant Other is reading this along with you, and you don't want
to upset her...  >;-)
Well, my male hormones are perfectly in order, but *I* sure as heck
gave what she was doing with that keyboard much more than a cursory
glance; it was simply fascinating to see how calmly and easily she
entered what I was asking her to type!  I kept upping my speed, and
she just went right along...

OK, why isn't this keyboard making an impact on the world market?
What a silly question, with all those manufacturers with vested
interests in the existing keyboards and related soft/firm/hardware.

Anyone who is more up to date re Velotype is more than welcome to
correct me; I'm drawing on a 3-year old spotty memory.  Though the
photographic part sure is still fresh of that demo at the computer
fair...  (*WOW*!)  ;->


There's another keyboard out there somewhere, consisting of only
16 keys in a 4 x 4 matrix.  Someone else mentioned something about a
cyclist here in this thread; I think this is the same thing.  Figure
out how many different characters one can produce with 1-key, 2-key,
and 3-key combos.  And all that with only one hand...
What I don't like about this 4x4 setup is that one needs to memorize
a lot of key-combinations.
The Velotype thing *can* be used single-handedly, btw.

Regards.
$$/

-------------------------------------
Women:  Though you can neither live WITH 'em nor withOUT 'em, I'm
glad they exist; the world would be a mighty dull place without 'em.
Hopefully the Ladies agree that "Women" can be replaced by "Men"...
(IN THE ABOVE SENTENCE!  >:-)