[IxDA Discuss] Tog on the iPhone keyboard

[Will Parker]

Comments on the iPhone touch-type from Tog's new iPhone article  
( http://www.asktog.com/columns/072iPhoneFirstTouch.html )
Tog:

> An inherent problem with all finger-touch systems is that the  
> finger, by definition, must obscure the object being touched  
> (unless one has a giant screen with giant buttons). Apple has  
> actually come up with a clever way to display the button anyway: As  
> the user presses down on the "D" key, for example, a bigger image  
> of the "D" key in a dialog balloon, as in a comic, appears just  
> above the finger.
>
> Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, the balloon can only be made  
> to display once the user had committed to the letter, thus acting  
> to announce errors, rather than prevent them.
>
Excellent point, and he follows up with useful suggestions.

> The iPhone needs a two-level touch-sensing system. That would allow  
> the user to press lightly on the keyboard to cause the dialog  
> balloons to appear, then press harder as they confirm that the  
> correct letter is displayed. Such direct feedback would accelerate  
> the learning curve for the young while giving older people with  
> large fingers—or arthritic fingers—an alternative to the  
> frustration of high continuing error rates.
>
As I've mentioned on this list, looking for a two-plateau area- 
coverage profile as the user goes from 'touch' to 'press' should be  
easy enough to do. The question would be whether it's possible to  
create a generic profile; if not, you'd have to have the touch device  
and the user learn each others' styles over time.
> Force Feedback
>
> Another major win for the iPhone would be force-feedback, so users  
> could "feel" the key has been pressed. For a long time, lack of  
> such feedback was something taken for granted with touch screens,  
> but no longer. It turns out that if you move the entire device up  
> and down rapidly when the user has achieve sufficient contact,  
> hammering the device against the finger, the user's brain  
> interprets that movement as a physical click. It also turns out  
> that cell phones all already have a device to move the phone around— 
> the vibrator used as a ringer alternative.
>
Another vote for haptic feedback. I will take that as vindication.

> Of course, most cellphone vibrators move the phone in two  
> dimensions, since they consist of motors with offset weights, but  
> Immersion Corporation's VibeTonz technology replaces the rotary  
> vibrator with one that goes strictly up and down. When that  
> vibrator is triggered by a completed virtual keypress, the user is  
> given just enough of a nudge to indicate to the brain that the  
> keypress was successful.
>
See also the research on modeling the haptic illusion of different  
shapes and types of surfaces using different vibration profiles.

- Will

Will Parker
wparker at ChannelingDesign.com


“I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a check. If  
that were the case, then Microsoft would have great products.” -  
Steve Jobs