Developers say the new layout of keys will optimise thumb use and speed up typing on smartphones and tablets.
A new ‘thumb-friendly’ keyboard has been developed to enable faster typing on touchscreen devices.
Researchers claim a new layout of keys allows people to thumb-type 34% faster than using the traditional Qwerty keyboard.
The most commonly-used words can be written using both thumbs at the same time.
The Qwerty keyboard on a touchscreen device is comparatively slow because frequently used words like 'on', 'see', 'you', 'read', 'dear', and 'based' have to be typed with a single thumb because of the keyboard layout.
The new system, called KALQ, has been developed by the University of St Andrews in conjunction with the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany and Montana Tech in the US.
Dr Antti Oulasvirta, senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute, told Sky News: "The key to optimising a keyboard for two thumbs is to minimise long typing sequences that only involve a single thumb.
"It is also important to place frequently used letter keys centrally, close to each other.
"Experienced typists move their thumbs simultaneously: while one thumb is selecting a particular key, the other thumb is approaching its next target.
"From these insights we derived a predictive behavioural model we could use to optimise the keyboard.”
KALQ will be available as a free app for Android-based smartphones.
A new ‘thumb-friendly’ keyboard has been developed to enable faster typing on touchscreen devices.
Researchers claim a new layout of keys allows people to thumb-type 34% faster than using the traditional Qwerty keyboard.
The most commonly-used words can be written using both thumbs at the same time.
The Qwerty keyboard on a touchscreen device is comparatively slow because frequently used words like 'on', 'see', 'you', 'read', 'dear', and 'based' have to be typed with a single thumb because of the keyboard layout.
The new system, called KALQ, has been developed by the University of St Andrews in conjunction with the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany and Montana Tech in the US.
Dr Antti Oulasvirta, senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute, told Sky News: "The key to optimising a keyboard for two thumbs is to minimise long typing sequences that only involve a single thumb.
"It is also important to place frequently used letter keys centrally, close to each other.
"Experienced typists move their thumbs simultaneously: while one thumb is selecting a particular key, the other thumb is approaching its next target.
"From these insights we derived a predictive behavioural model we could use to optimise the keyboard.”
KALQ will be available as a free app for Android-based smartphones.