TnToolkit: A Design and Analysis Tool for Ambiguous, QWERTY, and On-Screen Keypads

What is TnToolkit?

TnToolkit is a self-contained tool to calculate keystrokes-per-character (KSPC) measurements and a words-per-minute (WPM) performance prediction for ambiguous, QWERTY, and on-screen keypads. By conveniently facilitating the performance evaluation of keypad designs, TnToolkit facilitates analyses of existing devices as well as new prototypes.

For further information regarding TnToolkit, please refer to this academic paper (PDF, approx. 2 MB), or its accompanying video (MPEG, approx. 32 MB). To view screenshots of TnToolkit, click here.

Why use TnToolkit?

• It simplifies and streamlines performing key-letter assignments and digitization of a keypad.
• It allows users to visualize and easily edit the keypad digitization, save work in progress, and share data with other applications.
• An experiment reveals that using TnToolkit to gather performance metrics is 69% faster than using existing programs, and does not compromise accuracy.

Who wrote TnToolkit?

TnToolkit was written by Steven J. Castellucci and I. Scott MacKenzie as part of their research in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at York University.

How do I get TnToolkit?

The distributable TnToolkit includes a Java Archive (JAR) file, an example keypad image, and a word-frequency file. It also includes HTML-based help files and Javadoc API documentation. Please read the included License.txt file before using the software.

Download: version 1.1a, (ZIP, approx. 390 kB)

Download: version 1.1, (ZIP, approx. 390 kB)

Download: version 1.0, (ZIP, approx. 400 kB)

Version History:

1.1a - Changed class names [Changelog]

1.1 - Improved performance, added efficiency calculation (KCME), added help file, and fixed minor bugs [Changelog]

1.0 - Initial release