Effects of button position on a soft keyboard: Muscle activity, touch time, and discomfort in two-thumb text entry.
Intensive use of the thumbs for text entry on smartphones may contribute to discomfort, pain, or musculoskeletal disorders. This study investigated the effect of twenty-five button positions (5 rows × 5 columns) on a soft keyboard for two-thumb entry. Two experiments measured muscle activity, touch time, and discomfort as a function of the button positions. In Phase I, the muscle activities of two intrinsic (abductor pollicis brevis and first dorsal interossei) and two extrinsic (abductor pollicis longus and extensor digitorum communis) muscles associated with thumb motions were observed for ten college students (age: 24.2). In Phase II, touch time and discomfort were measured for 40 college students (age: 23.6). The results demonstrated that the %MVCs of the intrinsic muscles significantly increased when the thumbs flexed and abducted. Also, the button positions near the rest positions of the thumbs resulted in significantly shorter touch times (0.66 s) and lower discomfort ratings (0.70 pt) than their peripheral buttons (0.76 s; 2.29 pt).
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: joonhochang@gmail.com.
Joonho
J
Chang
University of Ulsan, 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 680-749, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: bori486@daum.net.
Bori
B
Choi
University of Ulsan, 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 680-749, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: amirtjoleng@yahoo.co.id.
Amir
A
Tjolleng
University of Ulsan, 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 680-749, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kjung@ulsan.ac.kr.
Kihyo
K
Jung
D000328:Adult; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D000068997:Smartphone; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013933:Thumb / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
Smartphone; Soft keyboard; Two-thumb input