A Practical Pressure Sensitive Computer Keyboard

Summary:

This paper starts by mentioning that it is "sobering" that the keyboard has changed little with the advances in computer-human interaction. The main idea here is to make a change to the keyboard for the better. They realize that the only successful altered keyboards are ones that make very little change to the preexisting model. Something that the pressure sensitive keyboard has going for it is that it looks and feels exactly like a standard keyboard - the only difference being that it can report the pressure at which the keys are pressed.

Most of the modern keyboards use a flexible membrane to register when a key is clicked. This model uses a pressure sensitive membrane. They have created a membrane where "contact ... decreases in resistance as force is increased," this is the opposite of normal behavior.

The paper goes on to discuss "practical" applications of a pressure sensitive keyboards. One example given is in gaming - if you want to move faster than simply press the key harder. Another example given is during instant messaging to convey emotion. Press keys harder to convey more emotion - this saves time because the user does not have to scale the font to their liking.


Comments:

I think that the subject matter is somewhat interesting and relevant. However, I think that there is a problem with the fact that they are trying to change the keyboard. It is very difficult for me to see any practical applications in everyday desktop use with this pressure sensitive keyboard. After all, would you press keys harder to convey emotion or would you use a smiley?