#Alpha numeric phone keypad software#

May be not available on elevated credential dialogs or screens.Nevertheless, on-screen keyboards also have limitations: Virtual keyboards circumvent this limitation by showing the characters on-screen, but as discussed above, we want to explore alternatives that do not rely in this kind of operating system integration. Since gamepads buttons are usually labelled for gamepad usage, they do not have additional labels to help with alphanumeric input. Consideration 2: Limit the number of input buttons (ideally 8 or less).Consideration 1: Limit the number of input axis (ideally 2 or less).We could also consider motion (gyro) input, but that would drastically limit the potential application of our research, since we want to develop methods that are compatible with standard controllers, so as much people as possible can benefit from it.Īdditionally we also want the solutions to be compatible with one-hand controllers such as the ( Kapybara). Xbox controller) have 'only' about 14 buttons and 6 axis. The most obvious limitation when not having a physical keyboard is that alternatives do not have as many buttons.

#Alpha numeric phone keypad software#

Use-case 3: Chat: Basic chat communication.Īt Input Labs, we developed the Alpakka firmware with the goal of not requiring additional software or drivers, and emulating mouse and keyboard at the lowest level possible (firmware and USB communication).įollowing this goal we also want to explore potential input mechanisms for alphanumeric characters, that would work in a videogame controller without additional software not operating system support.Use-case 2: Fields: Sign-up forms and/or sign-in with credentials (user and password).Use-case 1: Search box: input in a game launcher, game shop, or internet browser.In the context of a computer dedicated to videogames, or a videogame console, the most frequent use cases for alphanumeric input are: