An Empirical Investigation Into Text Input Methods for Interactive Digital Television Applications

Abstract

Nowadays there is a huge market emerging in the interactive digital TV realm. In this context, we need new and effective methods of user interaction, as the main interaction device is still the classical remote control. Remote controls are especially problematic when it comes to writing text, something needed in most applications. Thus, we have carried out an empirical investigation to find effective methods of text entry with remote controls. We analyze several methods by performing experiments based on a methodology in which a heterogeneous set of real users carries out several sequential tasks in an incremental process. We analyze entry speeds, error rates, learning profiles, and subjective impressions, taking into account the particular characteristics of the users. Our results show, for instance, that Multitap is a good method for simple texts. It is between 12% and 34% faster than the fastest virtual keyboard, depending on the age of the user. Nevertheless, when complex texts need to be written, virtual keyboards present the same or even better writing speeds (QWERTY is 13% faster) and with significant lower error rates (Multitap is 347% worse than QWERTY). We consider that our results are very interesting for researchers, designers of TV applications, and hardware vendors.

Notes

1. Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at http://www.tandfonline.com/hihc.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aurora Barrero

Aurora Barrero is a Computer Science Engineer from the University of Oviedo and a Ph.D. student with an interest in the area of multimedia systems and services, content distribution networks, and interactive digital TV services. She is a Research Engineer in the Department of Computer Science of the University of Oviedo.

David Melendi

David Melendi is a Computer Science Engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of Oviedo and an interest in multimedia systems and services, content distribution networks, idTV services, and mobile ad hoc networks. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo and a member of the W3C.

Xabiel G. Pañeda

Xabiel G. Pañeda is a Computer Science Engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of Oviedo and an interest in multimedia systems and services, content distribution networks, idTV services, and mobile ad hoc networks. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo and a member of the W3C.

Roberto García

Roberto García is a Telecommunications Engineer from The Technical University of Madrid with a Ph.D. from the University of Oviedo and an interest in telecommunication networks and services, applied to performance analysis, modelling, and simulation of systems and services. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo.

Sergio Cabrero

Sergio Cabrero is a Telecommunications Engineer from the University of Oviedo and a Ph.D. student with an interest in the area of telecommunication networks, interactive digital TV services, multimedia services, and mobile ad hoc networks. He is a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Computer Science of the University of Oviedo.