TrekTrack: A Round Wristwatch Interface for SMS Authoring

Abstract

The user interface for text messaging via SMS has changed little since the technology was introduced on cell phones. Authoring text with a phone keypad is tedious and error-prone. Furthermore, the cell phone intrudes into other activities while hands hold it for authoring. In this paper we suggest a future alternative user interface for SMS messages based on a round wristwatch device. Two button-wheels are used to access a round hi-res color display. Text input is done with a round soft keyboard that maps intuitively to the button-wheels using the angular and radial movements of polar coordinates. Furthermore, a wristwatch device has an aesthetics that is less intrusive than a cell phone. Since the device is always deployed, authoring is easily interrupted to use the hands for other tasks. Informal user evaluation of a prototype implementation suggests that this novel round design provides an improved user experience for authoring SMS compared to cell phones.