Dasher: A Gesture-Driven Data Entry Interface for Mobile Computing

Existing devices for communicating information to computers are bulky, slow, or unreliable. Dasher is an interface incorporating language modeling and driven by continuous two-dimensional gestures (e.g., a mouse, a stylus, or eye-tracker). Tests have shown that, after 1 hr of practice, novice users reach a writing speed of about 20 words per minute (wpm) while taking dictation. Experienced users achieve writing speeds of about 34 wpm, compared with typical 10-finger keyboard typing of 40 to 60 wpm. Although the interface is slower than a conventional keyboard, it is simple to use and could be used on personal data assistants and by motion-impaired computer users. Dasher can readily be used to enter text from any alphabet.