Til

Til is a virtual keyboard that allows users, by using simple gestures started on specific keys, to accentuate words and punctuate phrases in a simple and quick way.

Til was built to minimize the waste of time in the typing process, which is done in the following ways:

. The most common accented characters are generated by the use of simple and intuitive gestures started on the chosen key. It is not necessary, though, in most cases, to press and hold the chosen key untill the options for accented characters appear;

. The most common punctuation characters (!?,:) are generated by the use of gestures starting from the period key, which sits alongside the spacebar. It eliminates the need for changing the keyboard's primary mapping in order to gain access to the most common punctuation characters;

. Til has a special key that allows, by the use of simple gestures starting from this key, to move the cursor through the text without erasing anything. This way, it is not necessary that the user moves his fingers from the keyboard to position the cursor in order to fix mistakes eventually made;

. Til allows the erasing of parts of the text both backward and forward by using simple gestures starting from the backspace key. This feature renders the error correction simpler and quickier;

. The changing of the keyboard's mapping, from the main screen which contains letters to those that presents numbers and symbols, is done by gestures starting from the spacebar. This feature makes the access to less common characters simpler and more intuitive;

. Til does not distract the user with word suggestions or changes the typed text on its own. Instead, it gives users full control of the text to be produced. This way, users end up typing better and faster, since they stay focused on the text to be produced and not on monitoring system's word suggestions or replacements.

Til was initially designed to help those who use accented words, but the features that involve punctuation, cursor positioning and error correction are equally useful for those that don't need accented characters.