Dasher Demonstration

Dasher is a one finger user interface that allows text entry without a keyboard.

Keyboards are inefficient for two reasons: they do not exploit the redundancy in normal ... all » language; and they waste the fine analogue capabilities of the user's motor system (fingers and eyes, for example). I describe a system intended to rectify both these inefficiencies. Dasher is a text-entry system in which a language model plays an integral role, and it's driven by continuous gestures. Users can achieve single-finger writing speeds of 35 words per minute and hands-free writing speeds of 25 words per minute. Dasher is free software, and it works in all languages, and on many platforms. Dasher is part of Debian, and there's even a little java version for your web-browser. http://www.dasher.org.uk/

This is an excerpt from a Google TechTalk:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5078334075080674416

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Dasher
• User
• Interface
• Text
• Entry
• Typing
• David
• MacKay

[aurielMoon]

its really interesting (im writing a mini-essay on it for ec)but i cant see lots of people using it. it seems that there would be lots of room for error. is there any formating buttons?

do you know where i could download a free trial version?

[UnreasonableMan]

There's a link in the description.

[yetson]

Try to think outside the box.

What if you had no thumbs? No fingers? Dasher would become a viable solution for people who are handicapped and are forced to use their eyes/tounges for GUI interactions.

[Onlinemaster1]

Jako ciekawostka dobre, do użytku jednak raczej dla osób niepełnosprawnych

[HybridFridge]

Found the real website and downloaded it for Win7, it's really awesome! It feels a lot like a video game, which is a good thing :P Makes writing more fun!

I also found the Android app! Search "Dasher" on the market, it's free! It's a bit harder, but it works exactly the same way.

[HybridFridge]

Found the real website and downloaded it for Win7, it's really awesome! It feels a lot like a video game, which is a good thing :P Makes writing more fun!

[HybridFridge]

@UnreasonableMan The link for dasher leads to a car sales website :(

[HybridFridge]

Freaking amazing

[poniesinashed]

I love this software; it's made typing a breeze for me.

[qt247ha]

lovely idea for people who are disabled! I love this!

[Slegarthoth]

Bizarre and cool!

[koCmoC36]

I love this thing. It's so interesting and easy to use. I have it just for one day, but feel pretty pro. Like a game

[eliluong]

pretty clever!

[jlarpi]

Yea I already thought of that after I made the post. Ppl could write words if they're paralyzed from the neck down as they could write words by controlling a device with their mouth.

However, I'd just prefer voice 2 text.