DGTS: Integrated typing and pointing

Abstract

Capacitive sensing is used in many different fields of application. It has been implemented in such devices as mobile phones and remote controls. However, up until now the physical sensing area has remained limited despite the widespread use of larger input devices such as keyboards. We present DGTS, which seamlessly integrates keyboard typing and cursor pointing. This input device offers multi-finger operation for scrolling and other specialized input commands. The objective of this work is to replace computer mice and touchpads by integrating capacitive sensing into a layer within the keyboard thereby reducing the space required for pointing devices. This paper gives the technical background, shows our contribution, and concludes with initial tests. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.