Velotype is the trademark for a type of

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

for typing text known as a syllabic chord keyboard, an invention of the Dutchmen Nico Berkelmans and Marius den Outer.

History

Marius den Outer invented the Tachotype in 1933. Herman Schweigman and Rudolf Nitzsche created an electronic version of the Tachotype in 1982 and named it the Velotype. A stand-alone Velotype text processor is created in 2001 and is named the Veyboard. In 2011 the Velotype keyboard was improved and modernized by Wim Gerbecks and Sander Pasveer. Velotype is a Dutch company.

Design and rationale

Contrary to traditional

QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden t ...

type keyboards, on which a typist usually presses one key at a time to create one character at a time, a Velotype requires the user to press several keys simultaneously, producing syllables rather than

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

. A practiced velotypist can produce more text than on a traditional keyboard, as much as 200

words per minute Words per minute, commonly abbreviated wpm (sometimes uppercased WPM), is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving. Alphanumeric entry Since word ...

, double the rate of a fast traditional typist. Because of this, Velotypes are often used for live applications, such as subtitling for television and for the

hearing impaired Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken la ...

. The keyboard is an orthographic chord keyboard, very different from phonetic chord keyboards used for verbatim transcription, like the stenotype. Such chorded phonetic keyboards, such as those manufactured by Stenograph, produce an intermediate

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''st ...

format in which a combination of phonetics- and spelling-based strokes are translated by software to produce the output. Orthographic keyboards, on the other hand, allow the operator to rely on more traditional spelling in shaping the output, hence the term "orthographic" as opposed to "phonetic". The Velotype-pro contains software that allows the user to create their own abbreviations and short forms in addition to those pre-built into the machine. Stenographic keyboards are generally more difficult to learn than the Velotype, but trained stenotype operators can go faster, even upwards of 300 words per minute. However, if unusual words appear, a typist using a stenotype slows down, while the Velotypist can continue with the same speed, which can go up to 200 words per minute.

References

External links

Velotype-pro
improved keyboard since the end of 2011 Computer keyboard models Physical ergonomics {{product-stub

History

Design and rationale

See also

References

External links