Speaker
Description
As smartphones have become central to everyday digital interaction, typing on touchscreen keyboards has emerged as a compelling entry point for studying human sensorimotor behavior. This theoretical contribution explores the foundations of mobile typing as a motor skill, synthesizing a growing body of interdisciplinary literature that positions it as both a performance task and a behavioral indicator. The presentation examines how users learn to interact with flat, miniature keyboards and how they adapt motor coordination to device-specific constraints. Typing behavior is shaped by numerous factors, including ergonomic design, user habits, and contextual variability, challenging traditional definitions of typing expertise. At the same time, research in this field struggles with significant methodological limitations: many studies rely on constrained laboratory settings with low ecological validity, and standard performance metrics (such as words per minute) often overlook the nuanced motor strategies involved. However, emerging tools such as keystroke logging, real-world data collection, and inter-touch interval analysis offer new ways to capture the fine dynamics of mobile interaction. These methods not only reveal individual motor patterns, but also connect typing behavior to broader domains - including cognitive function, aging, and affective states - opening the door to innovative applications in behavioral modeling and digital health. Ultimately, this talk aims to promote a more sensorimotor-aware and ecologically valid framework for studying mobile typing, highlighting its relevance as a rich site for understanding how humans interact with - and adapt to - technologically mediated environments.
| If you're submitting a symposium talk, what's the symposium title? | Unpacking Digital Dexterity: Cognitive and Sensorimotor Perspectives on Mobile Typing |
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| If you're submitting a symposium, or a talk that is part of a symposium, is this a junior symposium? | No |
