Yesterday I received an email from someone at HMC inviting a few students to help user test a new form of touch typing. I quickly responded and was invited to the small user test today. The system is known as ASETNIOP which reflects the systems' primary focus on these letters as the base for the most common letters used in typing.
The goal of this typing system is to remove the need for a physical keyboard and finger placement and instead focus on combinations of finger presses. Each letter in the alphabet is formed with the touch of either a single finger or the combination of two fingers. The letters are based on which two fingers are pressed down at any one time. This makes it a good system for touch screen tablets since it removes the need for a visual keyboard on the screen and instead focuses on calculating finger touch location and how it is paired with letters. The system also lends itself to future uses in which a keyboard is no longer necessary for computers or other systems as well. An additional feature suggested by this system is that the parings of letters are based off of the QWERTY layout which should allow for an easy switch between systems.
Today, I was testing the alternative keyboard on my iPad. The thing that I personally found most difficult is the strong reliance on the right pinky for backspace and other letters such as M, K, and P. In using this system, I came to realize that I do not use my right pinky while touch typing on a QWERTY keyboard for anything besides the enter key. The ASETNIOP system correlates how common a letter is with which fingers are easiest to control. It is a fairly easy system to pick up besides it's reliance on some underused fingers.
Another student asked if piano players have an easier time learning the system due to their practice with chords. The man leading the testing (a HMC alumni) explained that the system had only just entered a testing phase so he was unsure if this had a substantial effect.
You can look at the system here for some actual practice (under Tutorial) or more information here: http://www.asetniop.com/. If you have an iPad, you can check it out by appending "ipad-l" or "ipad-r" depending on whether you primarily use your left or right thumb to press the space bar.
