Navigating the challenge of text input without a physical keyboard is an ongoing obstacle in maximizing productivity for XR headsets. Industry experts are tackling this issue head-on, developing a comprehensive guide that maps out various text input techniques, along with their benefits and drawbacks. By sharing this knowledge freely, they aim to inspire innovators to design more efficient methods.
Massimiliano Di Luca, a seasoned authority in the field, shares his insights in this piece. As the head of the VR Lab at the University of Birmingham, UK, he boasts a rich background, having honed his expertise at Meta by pushing boundaries on VR hand inputs and haptics. His recent industry-academic collaborations were notably honored by the ACM SIGCHI 2025 awards, acknowledging his pivotal role in shaping the interaction framework for Android XR systems.
As VR and AR experiences grow ever more complex, one persistent hurdle is efficient text entry—a key component for interaction in these virtual worlds. Whether it’s crafting emails in a virtual setting or engaging in the metaverse, the need for smooth text input is undeniable across all XR applications.
To address this, my team at the University of Birmingham, alongside researchers from institutions like the University of Copenhagen and Arizona State University, have crafted the XR TEXT Trove. This ambitious project catalogs over 170 text entry techniques tailored for XR environments. It acts as both a repository and a filtering tool, helping to highlight key input methods from both academia and industry, complete with analysis of their pros and cons.
The techniques in this catalog are organized using 32 distinct codes, covering 13 interaction attributes—like Input Device, Body Part, and Haptic Feedback—and 14 performance metrics, including Words Per Minute (WPM) and Total Error Rate (TER). Together, these elements offer a thorough look at the current landscape of XR text entry methods.
Our research yields several key insights. Fundamentally, text input efficiency is tied to the number of input elements available, be it fingers, controllers, or other devices. Achieving speeds comparable to traditional keyboard typing necessitates multi-finger input, as evidenced by our data showing an increase of roughly 5 WPM with each additional finger used.
Moreover, our studies suggest that haptic feedback and the presence of tangible surfaces can greatly enhance typing efficiency. Typing on physical surfaces rather than mid-air not only feels more natural but also helps reduce muscle fatigue, mitigating the notorious ‘Gorilla Arm Syndrome.’
Interestingly, while no method has dethroned the classic keyboard in terms of speed, the path to faster VR typing might lie in reducing travel distances on a multi-finger keyboard through AI and machine learning. XR needs its own breakthrough like the ‘swipe typing’ method, which revolutionized one-finger smartphone typing efficiency.
The XR TEXT Trove is more than just a catalog; it’s a crucial resource for advancing text input in XR technology. By providing a detailed, searchable database, we aim to empower researchers and developers to pioneer efficient, user-friendly text entry solutions in the immersive tech space.
Our ongoing journey continues to benefit the XR community. Our tools are readily available on the XR TEXT Trove website, with a full report to be presented at the upcoming ACM CHI conference in Yokohama, Japan. Additionally, some team members who contributed to this project also helped develop the Locomotion Vault, aimed at streamlining VR movement methods, thereby bolstering innovation in multiple aspects of XR design.
