NEW YORK, Sept 26 — Typing on tiny smartphone keyboards can be a challenge for most people, large hands or not, resulting in typos and time wasted correcting errors and retyping messages.
The QWERTY keyboard that’s currently in use has not been changed for over 140 years and was created to be used with mechanical machines and typewriters, but is much more challenging to use on smaller screens on devices such as smartphones and tablets.
A Swiss duo have come up with a solution: A honeycomb-style third-party keyboard app named WRIO keyboard, which stands for Write It Once, that features larger hexagonal-shaped keys for fast and error-free writing on smart devices.
The app is also thumb-optimised, meaning there are two spaces to rest your thumbs, reducing the distance your thumbs have to travel between keys, and is optimised for the thumb-typing common with smartphones and other smart devices.
Using the ‘space’ and ‘delete’ keys are as simple as swiping right or left respectively, and swiping up turns the letters into capital letters.
The creators are currently looking to fund the Android app on Kickstarter, and if successful, their next move would be to bring the app to iOS as well.
“We’ve placed all other important characters together with numbers, so that in 99 per cent of the cases a user has to use maximum two layers, instead of three with current keyboards,” the duo said, noting that the three-layer system currently in use is a major complaint from the test group.
There is a personalised and language-independent autocorrect feature that also adapts to the user’s slang and lingo.
The autocorrect feature also supports multiple languages.
If the developers can hit their Kickstarter funding goal, they’re aiming to ship a beta version of the app this November, and deliver the final keyboard software by March 2016.
