Most of us probably had a similar experience when onscreen handset keyboards first hit the mainstream – courtesy of Apple’s iPhone.
Those of us who had been using a physical BlackBerry keyboard probaby had a more difficult time making the transition than most, as the lack of tactile feedback made the experience quite irritating, at least initially.
However, the years have gone by (perhaps far too quickly) and onscreen virtual keyboards are now the norm. Frankly, I have abslolutely no desire to go back to a physical keyboard, because I can actually type faster on my virtual touchscreen keypad. Then again, I’m sure there are still a few holdouts out there who dislike both virtual and physical smartphone keyboards.
Enter the G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T. typing glove, invented by Jake Liu when he was a student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Liu’s creation is officially dubbed the Generally Accessible Universal Nomadic Tactile Low-power Electronic Typist – or G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T for short.
The glove is actually very easy to understand and use. As you can see in the image and video above, G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T has different letters printed on the front and sides of each finger.
Apparently, the enter, backspace, space, and function keys are on the thumbnail for easy access. To enter text using the glove you simply touch thumb to finger to type the word. The glove also has an integrated accelerometer to mimic peripherals such as a mouse, and connects to smartphones or tablets via Bluetooth.
The problem? When all is said and doine, G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T is still a glove. I don’t think you’re going to find many people out there who would be willing to wear a black glove all the time in order to type. It might be fine to strap on at home or a geeky Con, but on the go, I think most people would be way too fashion conscious to consider such a device for public use.
