Trek Keyboards

[secretreeve]

So while the fire department puts out the gas boiler thats on fire over the road a thought crossed my mind.

Why dont we have more LCARS keyboards?

The traditional keyboard layout is adopted from type writers because when they where common place, it was the only layout that stopped the character hammers from getting tangled when typing relatively fast. The layout was translated into the PC world for familiarity and ease of transition.

But lets face it, the world changes. Voice recognition software is coming along and keyboards are becoming less and less important. So why not compact them, and change them to something more versatile like the LCARS type controls?

Sure, you can still use your generic old school keyboard but its time for a change and the entire way computers are being used is leaning more and more towards touch interfaces, so the traditional keyboard is soon going to find itself in a world where its no longer required. Why not make that change sooner?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

What about when you want to type text?

 

[secretreeve]

thats the voice recognitions that take over, you wouldn't need to type really, just dictate.

Or the pads could just change mode from command type to text type, just a different layout.

 

[C.E. Evans]

So while the fire department puts out the gas boiler thats on fire over the road a thought crossed my mind.

Why dont we have more LCARS keyboards?

The traditional keyboard layout is adopted from type writers because when they where common place, it was the only layout that stopped the character hammers from getting tangled when typing relatively fast. The layout was translated into the PC world for familiarity and ease of transition.

It wasn't just for that. The "QWERTY" format was also adopted because of its practicality in the office world. For skilled typists, the placement of letters allows words to be typed with the left hand, while the right hand has access both to the cursor buttons and the numeric keypad.

But lets face it, the world changes. Voice recognition software is coming along and keyboards are becoming less and less important. So why not compact them, and change them to something more versatile like the LCARS type controls?

Primarily because LCARS is just made up stuff for a TV show. Our heroes can do all sorts of stuff on LCARS interfaces, including typing text and codes with buttons marked only with tiny little numbers due to magic of TV.

But as far as keyboards becoming less and less important, I would argue that they would still be important as long as there's a need to write messages or text to people. They may disappear when the need for people to write does, though.

 

[scotpens]

There was a discussion on this topic some months ago. If you're going to type text with any degree of speed or efficiency, you need the tactile sensation of pressing individual keys. Touch screens just won't do the job. The traditional QWERTY keyboard layout has been around for more than 130 years, and it's not going to become obsolete anytime soon.

 

[jayrath]

Voice recognition software currently is still pretty awful.

Actually, I wonder why the helm isn't outfitted with a mouse.

 

[secretreeve]

Voice recognition software currently is still pretty awful.

Actually, I wonder why the helm isn't outfitted with a mouse.

cause if it was up to microsoft it'd be an over priced x=box controller not a mouse lol

 

[_C_]

^ And you'd need helmets for how often it crashes. *BURN*

 

[secretreeve]

not forgetting something to hit when the "apps" dont to what they are meant to

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

thats the voice recognitions that take over, you wouldn't need to type really, just dictate.

In work in a newsroom with fifteen other people. Do you really think we should dictate everything we write out loud?

 

[T'Girl]

thats the voice recognitions that take over, you wouldn't need to type really, just dictate.

But I can type faster than I can talk. Plus voice recognition software can't seem to handle my accent.

 

[Timo]

And if the computer can properly recognize your voice, what possible purpose could a keyboard of any sort serve? If you don't need a button for the letter G, why would you need a button for anything else, either?

As for touchscreens vs. tactile feedback, there's no reason the two should be mutually exclusive. Indeed, a keyboard where the keys are not physically protruding objects as such, but mere virtual creations with pseudo-physical characteristics (such as buzzing your finger when you press), would be advantageous in having the ability to move the key for letter G beneath your finger even when you are in danger of missing it.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

And if the computer can properly recognize your voice, what possible purpose could a keyboard of any sort serve?

I've cited a very convincing example just two posts above yours.

 

[Robert Comsol]

Interestingly, they were far ahead of their time in the TOS pilots.

In "The Cage" / "The Menagerie" Spock was doing his "power point" presentation of the Talos star group by the move of his right hand without touching a panel or a button.

And in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" Gary Mitchell just activated a component on his console by letting his hand pass over the console without ever touching it.

Unfortunately, in "The Corbomite Maneuver" they went back to the traditional pushing of buttons.

Bob

 

[Timo]

I've cited a very convincing example just two posts above yours.

You misunderstand - I wanted to postulate a hypothetical situation where voice recognition (or, say, telepathic recognition) works with absolute perfection, come hell or high water or the noises of a newsroom. It now perfectly takes your dictation. What then?

The OP seems to want an input device that does away with the inputting of text by typing. Well, now he has got it. What possible use could he now have for a keyboard, be it a dull QWERTY one or a flashy LCARS one? Everything he could ever want input can now be input the same way his keyboard-sidestepping dictation can.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I've cited a very convincing example just two posts above yours.

You misunderstand - I wanted to postulate a hypothetical situation where voice recognition (or, say, telepathic recognition) works with absolute perfection, come hell or high water or the noises of a newsroom. It now perfectly takes your dictation. What then?

Then we have fifteen people talking at the same time in the same tiny room, while trying to concentrate just enough to write complex articles, which by the way is not easy to do when you have to dictate them. It's not a matter of technology. It's a matter of being able to think.

 

[Timo]

And still the point stands - no matter whether the clearing of those hurdles is possible or not, it's simply not going to produce the result the OP wanted.

Designing a machine capable of taking your dictation is possible one way or another, make no mistake, but yeah, it may be somewhat difficult. Yet when it finally happens, the one thing it won't result in is a fancy new type of keyboard.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[scotpens]

In "The Cage" / "The Menagerie" Spock was doing his "power point" presentation of the Talos star group by the move of his right hand without touching a panel or a button.

And in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" Gary Mitchell just activated a component on his console by letting his hand pass over the console without ever touching it.

I can see why they went back to traditional button-pushing when the show went into production. The hand-waving made Spock and Gary Mitchell look like stage magicians.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I have to add that the voice recognition software of the Google app on my Surface is freakishly efficient.

 

[Timo]

To be sure, neither of the sleighs-of-hand may necessarily have been intended to be interpreted that way.

It's well-known that Spock in that scene is gesturing next to an observant seated underling who probably was intended to be pushing the buttons of the slide projector, but very fortunate framing of the shot leaves the gal out of the picture and creates this far more futuristic impression.

Gary in turn simply seems to prefer punching the buttons with the edge of his hand, rather than his fingers, as this appears more laid-back in keeping with his character.

Timo Saloniemi