The Dasher Project [LWN.net]

The Dasher Project is working on a new type of computer interface, with the goal of replacing the traditional keyboard as a text input device. According to the project summary:

[Dasher]

Dasher is an information-efficient text-entry interface, driven by natural continuous pointing gestures. Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a full-size keyboard cannot be used.

Dasher is designed for use on palmtops and wearable computers. It supports one-handed and hands-free operation. One-handed input may be performed via a conventional pointing device such as a mouse, joystick, or touch screen. Hands-free operation involves the use of a head-mouse or eye-tracker.

The Dasher documentation includes a three page explanation on the use of the software. Operation looks a bit like running a video game, a few example movies of Dasher in operation are included, they illustrate the use of Dasher nicely.

The Tips for Novices section compares the input method to driving a car:

Indeed, you will probably learn Dasher faster if you come to it with car-driving analogies in mind, rather than standard computer analogies. For example, the way navigation works is not by DRAGGING but by STEERING: if cars worked like windows computers, you would have to "grab" the piece of road you want, then "drag" it towards you; but in a car, when you wish to drive right, you POINT RIGHT with your steering wheel.

The intended audience for Dasher is for people with disabilities, the software could also be useful to a wider audience. Decent typing speeds can apparently be achieved fairly quickly:

After one hour's practice, some users are able to write at more than 20 words per minute using Dasher with an eyetracker.

This looks like fun and useful software.

Version 3.2.0 of Dasher has been announced. "This version is the first release of the new stable branch, and is aimed at the GNOME 2.4 and 2.5 desktops (but will continue to work happily under 2.2). New features include integration with the GNOME accessibility framework and gnome-speech, and the ability to enter text directly into other applications."

Dasher is a cross-platform project, the code is available here.

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Innovative, indeed!

Posted Nov 20, 2003 18:22 UTC (Thu) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link]

Wow, now THIS is an incredibly good idea. It's very useful for anyone with motor disabilities, and may make text entry on mobile devices more useable, as well. Truly innovative idea, and it's not being done by a large company under a proprietary license!

Robert Enderle, take note.

The Dasher Project

Posted Nov 20, 2003 18:47 UTC (Thu) by zone (guest, #3633) [Link]

Absolutely fabulous piece of software. Not something you're going to want to code with, but this is exactly what you want to use on your cell phone for text messages.

After only 10 minutes of practicing, I timed myself writing the phrase 'what time do you want to meet tonight'. In Dasher, it took 39 seconds, on my cell phone with autocomplete, 40 seconds. The Dasher time is skewed though, because it had already learned that I like to type 'time', 'meet' and 'tonight' rather than 'the', 'me', and 'to', which appeared to be the favored defaults.

And besides the time factor, it flows just like speaking. I lost my train of thought twice when using my cell phone because of the disconnect between punching keys and forming a sentence, but with Dasher it was completely natural.

I haven't felt like gushing about a new technology in a long time, but this one definitely deserves it. I hope the cell phone and PDA manufacturers pick this up.