Changes

The effectiveness of typing on a virtual keyboard was given a higher than average score because the population that was sampled were tech savvy students. They are around a computer on a regular basis and are proficient with a physical keyboard. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that their typing skills would translate well onto a virtual keyboard and would also justify a lower than average learning curve for most users. All respondents said that the primary focus of typing on a virtual keyboard is on the keyboard itself and not on the text area. Reasons given include keys being too small, no other way to know what was typed without looking at the keyboard and thumbs not suitable for touch screen typing. When Apple first introduced the iPad tablet, it presented virtual keyboard typing as one of its primary features. It allowed users to treat the touch screen as a fully functional keyboard that was not possible with the smaller screens found on smart phones. However, after users have had experience with the iPad keyboard, they have found numerous issues. The iPad offers 2 keyboard sizes depending on the way the user is holding the device. While in portrait mode, the keyboard size was not suitable for a full 10 finger typing configuration and the keys itself were too small for a full finger press. While in landscape mode, the keyboard is approximately the same size as a netbook and is suitable for 10 finger typing. However, most users have found it difficult to use due to the error rate they were getting. In addition, Apple tried to address the error rate issue by enlarging the key that was pressed by the user. However, using a 10 finger typing motion, the finger of the user would make the enlarged key hardly noticeable. Most users have found that it was difficult to type on the iPad with 10 fingers because of the non elevated surface and most prefer to hold the iPad with one hand while typing with the other. Conversely, this greatly decreases the efficiently in typing speed. In response to this, Apple released a new layout for landscape oriented keyboards. The keyboard is now split into two and off to the sides. This would allow user to hold the iPad while typing with their thumbs. This has been met with positive response because it greatly reduced the error rate and allowed users to focus more on the text area rather than the virtual keyboard.

However, portable touchscreen devices such as the iPad (tablets) still have a very fundamental deficiency when it comes to human-computer interaction; feedback. Most touchscreen devices such as the iPad, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, and most touchscreen cellphones have implemented vibrating feedback, so when the device will vibrate when the touchscreen receives input. This type of feedback works in a very basic “Vibration-No vibration” manner. This neglects what is perhaps our most strong sense. The sense of touch can perceive a very wide range of sensations of very wide magnitudes, and these devices do not take advantage of the fact that “the sense of touch can be used as a high-bandwidth communications channel.” If we review other tools in humanity, we can notice that they have in a way, and perhaps unintentionally, provided feedback. The weight of a hammer, and the way it vibrates when it's used to hammer a nail provided plenty of feedback information regarding the strength was used, whether or not it was enough to nail the nail down, and if there may be a harder layer under the surface the nail may not go through. When computers were invented, this feedback was also present in some way; the feeling of a key being pressed down, a finger being able to feel gaps between keys, the friction between the mouse and the desk, etc. Haptic feedback, in an ironic way, is meant to make human computer interaction more intuitive by using the sense of touch, but it seems to neglect it more than most conventional input systems. The following chart displays the relation between haptic feedback, visual feedback, and input errors commited by the user: