Is there any way to train the Tablet or improve

[smccarthy]

Is there any way to train the Tablet or improve the handwriting recognition? My handwriting is aweful!

[midst]

I know what you mean, smccarthy.

I'm on the verge of ordering a tablet and have never used one before, so i can't really say what the practical problems I'll have are.

My handwriting is really bloody awful too. I think i ought to be able to input a word or two using the handwriting recog thing ok. But the very idea of trying to produce a *line* or two of text taht that machine can recognise tires me out.

But, i found an option that might work ...


from
http://www.halfkeyboard.com/products/hkbinfo.html

so.. with this gadget, you can touchtype (assuming you can already touchtype) with one hand while still using the stylus with the other.

It's *supposed* to be easy to learn to use provided you can already touchtype.

[midst]

... oh ... and does anyone know of any shorthand recognition software that a tablet might make use of. If we're going to have to struggle to get our script recognised, then it might as well be for characters that represent words and phrases.

[WNewquay]

Hi Scott, Hi midst,

You would be amazed at what the ink recognition will do. It's not 100% but it is probably better than either of you are expecting.

I'd suggest that you try it for awhile before pursuing other options (or spending $$$).

Also, one of the minor conceptual hurdles is accepting that ink is not necessarily a replacement for type. That is: just because you wrote it does not mean that you have to convert it.

If what you write does not have to be

- shared with others,
- edited heavily,
- or formatted

you may well find that you don't have to convert it at all.

[midst]

Hi, WN ...

too late - i spent my $$$ (or rather, £££). But, my thinking was, as well as being handy for semi-mass text entry to the tablet, the half-keyboard could be a useful replacement for my desktop keyboard. (not having to let go of the mouse to type would speed up things a little when a lot of editing needs to be done, for instance.)

The real problem for me with the handwriting recognition isn't the quality of the recognition process, it's the drugery of performing the handwriting. I'm *soooo* out of practice. (It's strange tho, because I can write mathematical symbols and numbers perfectly clearly and quickly without thought, but it all seems to fall apart for text and i have to pay more than usual attention if i dont want it to end up as incomprehensible scrawl. And when i say "incomprehensible", i mean incomprehensible to me. I can't read my own handwriting if i look at it days later. Saving my handwriting as ink isn't an option.) Even if the recog is perfect, there's no way i can write by hand anywhere near the speed i can type. I think this'd make a real difference if i had to write more than 5 or 6 words.

However, i think shorthand might be a way round that problem, but it doesn't seem to be an idea that's caught on (software shorthand recognition, that is.).

[Chrissss]

I had horrible script handwriting as well. Back when I was in college I, too, couldn't read my own notes. So I converted to printing instead of script, and I quickly became as fast with my print as writing script so I've never gone back. That was over 20 years ago.

My tablet recognizes my printing at about a 98% accuracy level.

Chris...

[bluespapa]

Yeah, I would bet that the Tablet Input Panel (TIP) and the various programs that use handwriting recognition would be faster than the half keyboard. I've played with their demo when I was looking for alternatives.

The TIP has three ways input: inputing words that it tries to recognize (but offers alternatives), letters individually (and gives you immediate feedback on recognition), or it's got an onscreen QWERTY keyboard. I mostly use the first, occasionally the second, and rarely the third. My handwriting is awful, but not indecipherable (anymore).

I didn't buy a Tablet PC when they first came out because standing at the store I couldn't get it to recognize my handwriting, but after Microsoft came out with the next version of the operating system, I could get it read my handwriting, and knew I had to have one. Give it a try. You may be returning your half keyboard.

[shalexim]

Hey, I remember seeing one of those in Germany four years ago. Stuttgart was the city I saw it at. Very nice cars around there since the city name is on a popular emblem.

It would be a whole new learning curve to type the whole QWERTY keyboard with one hand. Handwriting does get tiresome when inking for a long time but you'll get comfortable to it afterwards.

quote:Originally posted by midst

I know what you mean, smccarthy.

I'm on the verge of ordering a tablet and have never used one before, so i can't really say what the practical problems I'll have are.

My handwriting is really bloody awful too. I think i ought to be able to input a word or two using the handwriting recog thing ok. But the very idea of trying to produce a *line* or two of text taht that machine can recognise tires me out.

But, i found an option that might work ...


from
http://www.halfkeyboard.com/products/hkbinfo.html

so.. with this gadget, you can touchtype (assuming you can already touchtype) with one hand while still using the stylus with the other.

It's *supposed* to be easy to learn to use provided you can already touchtype.