Source:
https://scmp.com/lifestyle/gadgets/article/3032543/quick-and-qwerty-phone-typists-nearly-fast-physical-keyboard
Lifestyle/ Gadgets

Quick and QWERTY: phone typists nearly as fast as physical keyboard users, with smart handsets changing the way we type

  • Those using two-thumb technique on their mobiles can register a blazing 38 words per minute, study finds
  • Mobile phone typists who use auto-correct are also faster than those who use word-prediction tools
A new study has found that those using the two-thumb technique to type on their smartphones can register a blazing 38 words per minute, not far short of what the average computer keyboard user achieves.

Tapping out a message with a finger or two on a smartphone is catching up to the speed of typing on a traditional keyboard.

Two-thumbed typists on a mobile phone virtual keyboard generated an average of about 38 words per minute in an experiment researchers describe as the largest to date on mobile typing.

That is still a quarter less than the 51.56 word-per-minute average achieved by users of physical keyboards, but the gap isn’t as big as expected, researchers say; in fact, they confessed to being amazed by the results.

Mobile typists who use auto-correct are faster than those who use word-prediction tools, according to the study, which tested 37,000 volunteers and was carried out by researchers at Finland’s Aalto University, the University of Cambridge in the UK and ETH Zürich in Switzerland.

Devices such as BlackBerry phones promoted typing on miniature keyboards. Photo: May Tse
Devices such as BlackBerry phones promoted typing on miniature keyboards. Photo: May Tse

Many children grow up with some kind of school training in how to type – 10 fingers on the keyboard, index fingers on the F and J keys, looking at the paper or the screen instead of the keys. Earlier devices such as the BlackBerry promoted typing on miniature keyboards, too. Now, most smartphone users type on their devices with one or two thumbs. Some also type with a single index finger.

As the smartphone has claimed a bigger and bigger portion of our communications, many educators and researchers have posed questions about the longer-term effects the move to typing on a digital keyboard may have – particularly on younger generations.

The concerns [of having neck, shoulder and grip issues] aren’t fewer, just different than those with traditional keyboards Bradley Chase, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of San Diego

The better-than-expected results surprised researchers, because typing on a smartphone “is a type of motor skill that people learn on their own with no formal training, which is very unlike typing on physical keyboards”, study co-author Antti Oulasvirta says.

The study found that 10- to 19-year-olds type about 10 words per minute faster than people in their 40s do, regardless of whether the keyboard is on a smartphone or a computer. The best typists could do more than 80 wpm. The study’s authors predict that the typing gap may close at some point as the population becomes less skilled with physical keyboards and as mobile typing technology improves.

Still, there are some trade-offs when it comes to typing on a smartphone. Those taking part in the study left more errors uncorrected, something that also resulted in less backspacing.

Smartphone usage can lead to neck, shoulder and grip issues. Photo: Alamy
Smartphone usage can lead to neck, shoulder and grip issues. Photo: Alamy

The researchers collected the typing data from thousands of individuals using an online typing test. The test asked participants to transcribe a series of sentences, and recorded their keystrokes, errors, speed and other metrics. It also asked them to self-report their demographic data, as well as information about how they type and the sort of keyboard they used to complete the test.

Smartphones may have some of the ergonomic risks associated with their more traditional counterparts, professors say.

Ira Janowitz, an ergonomics consultant previously associated with the University of California at Berkeley, says that with a touch screen it’s easy for a user to push harder on the keyboard than is necessary, which could cause physical problems over time.

Smartphone usage can lead to neck, shoulder and grip issues, says Bradley Chase, an associate professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of San Diego.

“The concerns aren’t fewer, just different than those with traditional keyboards,” Chase says.