thumbboard
Latest
TwoStick system offers quicker on-screen text entry
With web browsers and text messaging becoming a bigger part of the "console experience," some sort of method for quick text input is definitely a must. Sure, you can plug in a USB keyboard or a thumbboard controller attachment to enter text faster, but who wants to keep track of yet another peripheral? All we want is a quick way to enter text using our standard dual-stick controllers.Enter the appropriately named TwoStick text entry system, which speeds up text entry using a 9 x 9 Sudoku-style grid of letters and symbols. The left stick highlights the desired 3 x 3 sub-section while a quick flick of the right stick enters the appropriate letter within the section. This means that every letter is only two flicks of the thumbs away, rather than a potentially slow trek across the entire screen.After roughly 20 practice sessions, users were an average of about two words per minute faster with TwoStick than standard on-screen QWERTY controller input. That might not seem like much, but remember that every second you save sending that Halo 2 match request is another second you could actually be playing Halo 2. Check out a video of the system in action after the break.
