XO-2’s Virtual Keyboard: Back to the Future?
May 22nd, 2008 by Avram Piltch
This week our site has been abuzz with comments about OLPC’s next generation laptop, the XO-2. No prototype of the XO-2 has been built yet, and the machines aren’t scheduled to ship until 2010, but that hasn’t stopped readers from expressing strong opinions about the XO-2’s keyboard, or lack thereof.
Replacing a physical keyboard with a touchscreen virtual keypad (à la the iPhone) is a bold move on OLPC’s part, but is it good for everyday use?
RoMania commented:
The fact that the keyboard is missing it’s a big problem. Trust me I prefer to type on a real keyboard rather than on a touch screen. [sic]
Flatus said:
Touchscreens that you press may work for an ATM machine, where you’re only doing a few presses while looking at the screen.
A user named Jason was blunt in comparing the XO-2’s keyboard to one from the late 70s/early 80s:
The future is typing on an Atari 400?
For those not well-versed in disco-era technology, we should say that the Atari 400 (pictured at right) was an early home PC that featured a membrane keyboard. Membrane keyboards were used in a few other early home computers but were quickly relegated to microwave-oven keypads, because typing on a flat surface is so uncomfortable. Or is it?
Chris Adams, an ergonomics consultant for NASA and About.com’s ergonomics Guide, said that a touchscreen keyboard like the one found on the XO-2 is likely to cause more injuries, not because a flat surface is inherently bad but because most users don’t have proper typing posture:
Most keyboard operators (as opposed to typists) rest their wrists on the desk or wrist rest (which should only be used during periods of rest, not while typing) and as such have to flex their fingers
upward (past the natural, resting finger posture) on the upstroke. This is bad on your hands. With a touch screen such as this, if you rest your wrist on the laptop (or desk) then your fingertips will rest on the screen or hover just above it. This means you will have no down stroke and only
the bad upstroke. So, if you type with a lazy posture, as most of the users of this type of device probably would, it will be worse than typing on a keyboard with a lazy posture.
When asked about typing accuracy, Adams stated that, while the XO-2 will not be “an ergonomic text entry device,” the touchscreen will allow software developers to customize the key sizes and layouts for different users and different applications.
“A touchscreen allows for a lot of customization of controls that can enhance efficiency, even going so far as completely changing control methodology depending on the activity,” he said.
So is the XO-2’s touchscreen keyboard a taste of the future or a blast from the past? I guess it all depends on whom you ask. To quote one anonymous user, “This is an image of the future. I want one.”
May 25th, 2008 at 4:45 am
There is a newly invented keyboard which is an image of the future: small but quick. http://opqrest.blog.sohu.com/82042354.html
May 25th, 2008 at 7:32 am
i guess virtual keyboard is great ,because if a user doesnt want keyboard he can remove that and use that space in more noble ways,moreover for users for which OLPC are made its better if we can give direct interaction with the content rather than having indirect interaction through a keypad.
May 25th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I have been using the phisical keyboard for many years, an using this new touch screen would be something that takes geting used too. However, if the Iphone, Ipod touch and tablets are now using touch screens, this new laptop might be on to something. I would want the touchscreen since I wouldnt have to put up with the annoying sound of tapping keys on a keyboard.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:06 am
You can always plug an external keyboard (even an ergonomic one).
However, it goes further; you could plug this XO-2 to a desktop and use it as an external graphical input device for manipulating images or tons of other tasks.
My original idea was sent to a Research Lab back in January.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Continuing from my previous post… you could use it to control all your household electronics, even as a graphical remote to surf the web on a big screen TV, just by adding an infrared sensor to it, as an example.
Therefore, as a “laptop per child” which is a great project, as a multiple use household device, as a great traveling laptop (picture aboard airplanes with Wi-Fi and programs like Skype and a headset), as a graphical input interface for desktops, or even in bigger dimensions as a all purpose Tablet – Laptop fusion with an external keyboard. Possibilities are endless, that is the original idea.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Rounded Screens?
how does it work, and what is it for? I mean, the video card renders the resolution anyway, and the panel is rectangular. So why did they cut the borders of, just to make it look childish?
May 29th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I don’t want to wait until 2010
They should make normal laptops with the same idea right away.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
OH MY GOD THEY STOLE MY IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIKE A COUPLE MONTHS AGO I WAS THING YOU COULD JUST HAVE A TOUCH SCREEN KEYBOARD CUASE IT WOULD BE COOL AND TAKE UP LESS SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AWW MAN NOW I CANT MAKE THAT
June 1st, 2008 at 2:21 pm
OH ALSO, WOULDNT IT BE WATER RESISTENT?
June 5th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
It’s a big Nintendo DS… kinda cool… I guess….
June 29th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I WANT ONE NOW!!!!!