Dasher
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| Dasher | |
|---|---|
| Image:Dasher logo.svg | |
| Image:Dasher.png Dasher running under Linux | |
| Developer | The Dasher Project |
| Latest release | 4.6.1 / 17 September 2007 |
| Preview release | 4.5.1 / 6 June 2007 |
| OS | Cross-platform |
| Genre | Computer accessibility |
| License | GNU GPL |
| Website | inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/ |
Dasher is a computer accessibility tool enabling users to enter text efficiently using a pointing device rather than a keyboard. It has been likened to an arcade game, as users zoom through characters that fly across the screen in order to input text. It uses a probabilistic predictive model to give priority to more likely character combinations. Dasher can be described as a back-to-front version of arithmetic coding, a data-compression algorithm, and works in any language.
Dasher is licensed under the GPL. It is available for several platforms including Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Pocket PC.
Dasher was invented by David J.C. MacKay and developed by David Ward and other members of MacKay's Cambridge research group. The Dasher project is supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.
Dasher takes advantage of Fitts' law – the fact that larger areas can be selected more quickly than smaller areas.
Dasher is a part of GNOME desktop software for Unix-systems.
[edit] External links
- The Dasher Project
- The on-line textbook: Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms, by David J.C. MacKay, explains arithmetic coding in Chapter 6.
- Dasher: information-efficient text entry a 54mn "Google Tech Talks" Video presentation of Dasher by its main creator David J.C. MacKay, gives details like its history, its different versions and its targeted audiences and languages
[edit] References
- David J.C. MacKay (2003) Information theory, inference and learning algorithms, CUP, ISBN 0-521-64298-1, (also available online)de:Dasher
es:Dasher
