2-Thumb Gesture: The Design & Evaluation of a Non-Sequential Bi-manual Gesture Based Text Input Technique for Touch Tablets

We present 2-Thumb Gesture (2TG), a non-sequential bi-manual gesture-based text input technique for touch tablets, which enables the user to enter text with both hands by using each thumb to draw small strokes over the keys on their respective sides of the keyboard without waiting for their turn in the letter sequence of a word. The results of a study comparing 2TG to Swype (a 1-finger word drawing method), suggest that the learning and use of the 2TG technique to perform text input is comparable with the commercial Swype technique by those who had no prior experience with either. Furthermore, participants were able to hold and use the tablet with both hands without experiencing the substantial fatigue that results from a one-handed approach. Only 60 minutes after being introduced to the technique, participants were able to use the 2Thumb Gesture keyboard to enter text at 24.43 wpm, with an uncorrected error rate of 0.65%.