If you felt that you are unable to type fast on a regular ‘QWERTY’ keyboard, then news of a new ‘KALQ’ keyboard layout will surely be met with some enthusiasm. The new keyboard layout has been engineered by researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, who have redesigned the letter arrangement so that thumbs could be used to almost double typing speeds, especially on tablet devices.
A regular keyboard user can type an approximate 20 words per minute, but with the ‘KALQ’ keyboard, an astounding 37 words per minute can be typed. The layout of the new keyboard allows for all vowels to be present on the right hand side of the board, while first letters and consonants find a place on the left hand side of the split-screen.
Researchers were able to find that with just 10 hours of training, people were able to increase their typing speed dramatically. This occurs because while one thumb is typing a key, the other is moving into position to type the next letter.
The new keyboard is patent-free and users will be encouraged to change the layout to suit their needs. It is set to be launched on Android-based smartphones and tablets soon.
