New prototype cellphone keypad called the Multi-directional Input Keypad, or MIK, that works by assigning each letter of the alphabet to a particular direction on each key, so that the letter “A” is chosen by pressing the “2” key up, and the letter “U” is chosen by pressing the “8” key to the right.
As the experiments with the prototype show, input speed of about 60 characters per minute (cpm) can be easily achieved by an average user just after 30 minutes of playing with the MIK. Teenage users can easily achieve input speeds over 100 cpm in a couple of days.
If this works as well as it seems like it would, the MIK could make text messaging and emailing on a cellphone something that’s actually practical.
