Keyboards without Keyboards: A Survey of Virtual Keyboards

Abstract

Input to small devices is becoming an increasingly crucial factor in development for the ever-more powerful embedded market. Speech input promises to become a feasible alternative to tiny keypads, yet its limited reliability, robustness, and flexibility render it unsuitable for certain tasks and/or environments. Various attempts have been made to provide the common keyboard metaphor without the physical keyboard, to build "virtual keyboards". This promises to leverage our familiarity with the device without incurring the constraints of the bulky physics.