In the example shown, it takes five cursor steps and three switch actions to select the "m" key. Figure 4 (Additional file 4: Movie 4) shows the same kind of keyboard where the cursor follows a binary cursor path.
Thus, the main variable controlling speed and accuracy for a binary cursor path is the cursor duration, which is longer for smaller acceptable error rates.
For example, with a binary cursor path, 20 of the 64 keys are reached with nine cursor steps, while an additional 30 keys are reached with eight or ten cursor steps.
With such homogeneity, changing the key assignments for a binary cursor path often has very little impact on the average entry time.
The myometrial thicknesses to be measured were indicated manually, and then measured using a computerized binary cursor.
Figures 11, 12 and 13 show the properties of the optimal designs for keyboards using a linear, quadrant, or binary cursor path, respectively.
Similarly, for a linear cursor path, there would be a single opportunity to make an error with probability 1−π k and for the binary cursor path there would be six opportunities to make errors with associated probabilities.
In contrast, the row column cursor path always involves two switch actions, and the quadrant and binary cursor paths have more switch actions and therefore more opportunities for an entry error.
For example, accessing a key on the keyboard for the linear cursor path requires only one selection from the user, while the binary cursor path requires six selections.
On the other hand, the linear cursor path will take a long time to reach items at the end of the path (64 cursor steps for the final item), while the binary cursor path takes no more than 12 cursor steps.
