Quikwriting

Quikwriting is a continuous stylus-based text entry system which is an alternative to Graffiti. It was developed by Ken Perlin^[1] at the NYU Media Research Lab and presented^[2] at the ACM UIST '98 conference.

Perlin described the technique as quicker than Graffiti however the learning curve was steeper with at most people taking an hour to become moderately effective.^[3]

The technique works by keeping the stylus continuously on the screen.^[1] A method of using the system involves thinking of screen in terms of a flower with eight petals and a stamen. Eight characters or punctuation are allocated to each petal and the stylus is moved from petal to petal via the stamen or directly to form words. Eventually a user learns the shape for particular words and the process becomes quicker.^[1]

Quikwriting was reported by the Economist to have gain a small following on Palm PDAs and that by 2005 Microsoft had licensed the Quikwriting and were using it as part of the XNav project.^[1]