Genetic approach for a flexible cell phone keypad with reduced keystrokes and key jamming for better human technology interaction

Despite the ever-increasing popularity of mobile devices, text entry on such devices is becoming more of a challenge. Problems with traditional keypads primarily lie with placement of the letters alphabetically on the keys. This configuration, though very easy to remember, requires higher number of keystrokes and key jamming along with a limitation in flexibility of finger movement, as many frequent letters are not easily reachable by the thumb. Besides, users have to move their thumb extensively which also increases typing time and provides less comfort. in this paper, we have considered these issues and proposed a novel solution to the problems identified. The proposed solution focuses on both the structure of suitable human finger movements and ordering of the letters on the keys. We also took the basic Human Computer Interaction principles and general issues into consideration. Designs were found that have performance surpassing the traditional keypads, while maintaining better usability. Performance measurement through simulations of our proposed system have shown a rapid lessening of key jamming by up to 51.38 percent, improvements in flexibility of finger movement by up to 7.31 percent, number of keystrokes by up to 29.99 percent, and reduction of total distance while changing keys by up to 2.04 percent. In summary, this work represents an improved keypad layout for text entry on cell phones and other similar devices.