CharaChorder

Last updated
Charachorder
Company type Private
Industry
FoundedJune 1, 2019;4 years ago (2019-06-01) in Plano, Texas, U.S.
Key people
  • Riley Keen (CEO)
  • Monica Keen (CFO)
  • Adan Arriaga (CCO)
  • Matt Swarts (CTO)
Products
Website www.charachorder.com

CharaChorder is an American privately held company that specializes in text input devices. Its major products include the CharaChorder One and the CharaChorder Lite, which are keyboards that allow for character and chorded entry.

The CharaChorder One Keyboard CC1membraneTouchUpDesktop 1800x1800.webp
The CharaChorder One Keyboard

History

The company's first product was the CharaChorder One - The intention of this first device was to assist people with disabilities and those with limited mobility the ability to communicate with ease. [1] The founders cite their creation as an example of the curb cut effect, that is technology designed to enable people with disabilities that leads to benefits for everyone. After its initial release, the company was recognized as a new and noteworthy company at the consumer electronics show. [1]

In January 2022, the company made the news when its CEO posted videos to social media demonstrating himself typing in excess of 500 wpm. [2] [3] The speeds are not recorded by some typing competition websites because they are not achieved with a traditional keyboard. In particular, the website Monkeytype blocks any speeds over 300 wpm from their leader boards. [4]

Since its initial creation the company has focused on creation of technologies that enable users to perform text entry faster. The company's motto is "typing at the speed of thought." In May 2022, the company began publicly selling the CharaChorder Lite. The CharaChorder Lite is a chorded keyboard that allows for much of the same functionality of a CharaChorder One, with a more familiar QWERTY layout. [5] In November 2022, the company began a Kickstarter campaign to fund the development of the CharaChorder X, a usb device that aims to bring chorded functionality to existing keyboards. [6] It has now produced the engine used for chording, and is working on the "Forge Keyboard"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chorded keyboard</span> Computer input device

A keyset or chorded keyboard is a computer input device that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by pressing several keys together, like playing a "chord" on a piano. The large number of combinations available from a small number of keys allows text or commands to be entered with one hand, leaving the other hand free. A secondary advantage is that it can be built into a device that is too small to contain a normal-sized keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USB</span> Standard for computer data connections

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that allows data exchange and delivery of power between many types of electronics. It specifies its architecture, in particular its physical interface, and communication protocols for data transfer and power delivery to and from hosts, such as personal computers, to and from peripheral devices, e.g. displays, keyboards, and mass storage devices, and to and from intermediate hubs, which multiply the number of a host's ports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touch typing</span> Typing without the use of sight to find the keys

Touch typing is a style of typing. Although the phrase refers to typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory—the term is often used to refer to a specific form of touch typing that involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard and having them reach for specific other keys. Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stenotype</span> Specialized typewriter or chorded keyboard for recording in shorthand

A steno machine, stenotype machine, shorthand machine, stenograph or steno writer is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. In order to pass the United States Registered Professional Reporter test, a trained court reporter or closed captioner must write speeds of approximately 180, 200, and 225 words per minute (wpm) at very high accuracy in the categories of literary, jury charge, and testimony, respectively. Some stenographers can reach up to 375 words per minute, according to the website of the California Official Court Reporters Association (COCRA). giv.

A human interface device or HID is a type of computer device usually used by humans that takes input from or provides output to humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typing</span> Text input method

Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone, or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting and speech recognition. Text can be in the form of letters, numbers and other symbols. The world's first typist was Lillian Sholes from Wisconsin in the United States, the daughter of Christopher Sholes, who invented the first practical typewriter.

Words per minute, commonly abbreviated as WPM, is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USB On-The-Go</span> Specification for USB devices

USB On-The-Go is a specification first used in late 2001 that allows USB devices, such as tablets or smartphones, to also act as a host, allowing other USB devices, such as USB flash drives, digital cameras, mouse or keyboards, to be attached to them. Use of USB OTG allows devices to switch back and forth between the roles of host and device. For example, a smartphone may read from removable media as the host device, but present itself as a USB Mass Storage Device when connected to a host computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual keyboard</span> Software component

A virtual keyboard is a software component that allows the input of characters without the need for physical keys. Interaction with a virtual keyboard happens mostly via a touchscreen interface, but can also take place in a different form when in virtual or augmented reality.

mylo (Sony) Handheld Internet wi-fi device, 2006–2010

My Life Online (Mylo) was a device created and marketed by Sony for portable instant messaging and other Internet-based communications, browsing Internet web sites using the Opera web browser and playback and sharing of media files. The pocket-sized, tablet-shaped handheld device, which debuted in 2006, had a screen which slid up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. The brand name 'Mylo' means My Life Online. Using Wi-Fi instead of cellular networks, the Mylo was targeted to the 18–24 age group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTC Touch Pro</span>

The HTC Touch Pro is a smart phone from the Touch series of Internet-enabled Windows Mobile Pocket PC smartphones designed and marketed by HTC Corporation of Taiwan. It is an enhanced version of the HTC Touch Diamond with the addition of a left-side slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a microSD card slot, and a camera flash. The Touch Pro smartphone's functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player in addition to text messaging and multimedia messaging. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, instant messaging, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. Depending on its market, it is a quad-band GSM or quad-band UMTS phone with GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, and HSUPA or a tri-band CDMA phone with 1xEV-DO Rev A. All versions feature TouchFLO 3D — a new enhanced version of the TouchFLO interface, unique only to the latest Touch series. In March 2009, HTC announced a new version, the Touch Pro2 which has a larger screen (3.6") and a redesigned slide out QWERTY keyboard with spaces between the keys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keyboard layout</span> Arrangement of keys on a typographic keyboard

A keyboard layout is any specific physical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key-meaning associations (respectively) of a computer keyboard, mobile phone, or other computer-controlled typographic keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nokia X3 Touch and Type</span> Smartphone handset produced by Nokia

The Nokia X3 Touch and Type also known as Nokia X3-02 is a smartphone handset produced by Nokia. This is the first mobile handset released by Nokia that possesses a touchscreen in a "candybar" phone form factor. It is also the first touchscreen handset from Nokia that runs the Series 40 operating system. Previously released touchscreen devices from Nokia have either not had a physical keyboard, or they have had a slide-out, full-QWERTY keyboard. It was introduced on 13 August 2010 as one of the most advanced Series 40 devices in terms of features and specifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nokia E6</span> Mobile phone

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nokia Asha 303</span>

The Nokia Asha 303 is a QWERTY messenger smartphone powered by Nokia's Series 40 operating system. It was announced at Nokia World 2011 in London along with three others Asha phones - the Nokia Asha 200, 201 and 300. The 303 is considered to be the flagship of the Asha family. Its main features are the QWERTY keyboard and capacitive touchscreen, the pentaband 3G radio, SIP VoIP over 3G and Wi-Fi and the ability to play Angry Birds which were all never seen before on a Series 40 phone. Nokia Asha 303 is available in a number of languages depending on which territory it is marketed for. Models sold in South Asia support at least eight languages: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speed typing contest</span>

In a speed typing contest contestants compete to attain the highest accurate typing speeds. These contests have been common in North America since the 1930s and were used to test the relative efficiency of typing with the Dvorak and QWERTY keyboard layouts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nokia Asha 302</span>

The Nokia Asha 302 is a QWERTY messenger feature phone powered by Nokia's Series 40 operating system. It was announced at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona along with other Asha phones - the Nokia Asha 202 and 203. The 302 is considered to be among the flagship of the Asha family. Its main features are the QWERTY keyboard, the pentaband 3G radio, SIP VoIP over 3G and Wi-Fi. Its design looks a lot like the older Nokia E6 with chrome slidings, giving it a somewhat premium look. A software update adds Mail for Exchange support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colemak</span> 2006 keyboard layout for Latin-scripts

Colemak is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets, designed to make typing more efficient and comfortable than QWERTY by placing the most frequently used letters of the English language on the home row while keeping many common keyboard shortcuts the same as in QWERTY. Created on 1 January 2006, it is named after its inventor, Shai Coleman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typewise</span> Virtual keyboard featuring hexagonal keys

Typewise is a Swiss deep tech company that builds text prediction AI. In January 2022, the company filed a patent for its technology which it claims outperforms that of Google's and Apple's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Blackburn (typist)</span> American typist (1920–2008)

Barbara Clay Henley Blackburn was an American clerical worker recognized for her claimed fast typing speed using the Dvorak keyboard layout.

References

  1. 1 2 Innovates, Dallas; Edwards, Alex (August 20, 2020). "#killQWERTY: Here's Why Plano's CharaChorder Reinvented the Keyboard (Hint: To Keep Up With Your Brain)".
  2. "This Keyboard Lets People Type So Fast It's Banned From Typing Competitions". www.vice.com. 6 January 2022.
  3. Lytton, Charlotte (January 11, 2022). "This could help you type at 500 words per minute". The Telegraph via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. Kristina Panos (January 12, 2022). "The Charachorder Keyboard Is Too Fast For Competition". Hackaday.
  5. Mark Tyson (May 10, 2022). "250 WPM CharaChorder Lite Chording Keyboard Now Available for Anyone". Tom's Hardware.
  6. "This Simple USB Dongle Could Help the Average Person Type 600% Faster". Gizmodo. November 23, 2022.