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<article id="index">
  <articleinfo>
    <title>Dasher Manual</title>
    <corpauthor role="maintainer">The Dasher Project</corpauthor>
    <copyright>
      <year>2006</year>
      <holder>The Dasher Project</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      <para>Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the
        copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.</para>
      <para>Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the
        conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is
        distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.</para>
      <para>Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another
        language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that this permission
        notice may be stated in a translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.</para>
      <para>UNIX is a trademark of X/Open Group.</para>
      <para>Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.</para>
      <para>X Window System is a trademark of X Consortium, Inc.</para>
      <para>Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp.</para>
      <para>Macintosh and Apple are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.</para>
      <para>All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.</para>
    </legalnotice>
    <abstract role="description">
      <para>The user manual for the Dasher text entry application</para>
    </abstract>
    <revhistory>
      <revision>
        <revnumber>1.0.0</revnumber>
        <date>2004-02-08</date>
      </revision>
      <revision>
        <revnumber>1.1.0</revnumber>
        <date>2006-03-31</date>
      </revision>
      <revision>
        <revnumber>1.2.0</revnumber>
        <date>2006-07-11</date>
      </revision>
      <revision>
        <revnumber>1.2.1</revnumber>
        <date>2006-09-02</date>
      </revision>
    </revhistory>
  </articleinfo>

  <sect1 id="intro">
    <title>Introduction</title>
    <para><application>Dasher</application> is an information-efficient text-entry interface, driven
      by natural continuous pointing gestures. Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a
      full-size keyboard cannot be used - for example on a palmtop or wearable computer, or when
      operating a computer one-handed (by joystick, touchscreen or mouse) or zero-handed (i.e. by
      head-mouse or eyetracker). This document describes version 4.2.0 of
      <application>Dasher</application>.</para>
    <para><application>Dasher</application> can be started by selecting
      <guimenuitem>Dasher</guimenuitem> from the <guisubmenu>Accessibility </guisubmenu> submenu of
      the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, or by running the command <command>dasher</command> on the
      command line.</para>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="whatsnew">
    <title>What's New</title>

    <sect2>
      <title>New features In version 4.2</title>


      <para> There is an automatic speed control, which will speed up Dasher when it senses you are
        able to go faster. </para>

      <para> There is a new socket interface allowing Dasher to listen to head-trackers or
        gaze-trackers or EEG-interfaces without going through the mouse.</para>

      <para> There are several `button modes' for people who want to drive Dasher using one, two,
        three, or four switches.</para>

      <para> There is a `click mode', for people who like to point where they want to go, and click
        to take a single step in that direction. This is aimed at beginners, in particular</para>


    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>What's coming in version 4.4</title>
      <para> We will implement a game-mode for Dasher: this will help novices learn to write. A
        teaching hand will guide the novice when he goes astray, and novices who write fast without
        needing much guidance will win lots of points. </para>

      <para> New language models will be added, which will make predictions at the word level as
        well as the letter level.</para>

      <para>Japanese and Chinese will be fully supported. </para>

      <para>The Dasher team also hopes to create a free web-cam-based head tracker and gaze tracker,
        `FreeVIM', by December 2006. </para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="basics">
    <title>Dasher Basics</title>
    <para>Dasher is an information-efficient text-entry interface, driven by natural continuous
      pointing gestures. Dasher is a competitive text-entry system wherever a full-size keyboard
      cannot be used - for example, <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para>On a palmtop computer;</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>on a wearable computer;</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>when operating a computer one-handed, by joystick, touchscreen, trackball, or
          mouse;</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>when operating a computer with zero hands (i.e., by head-mouse or by
          eyetracker).</para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist> The eyetracking version of Dasher allows an experienced user to write text as
      fast as normal handwriting - 29 words per minute; using a mouse, experienced users can write
      at 39 words per minute.</para>

    <para> Dasher can be used to write efficiently in any language. </para>

    <para>Dasher is fast and fun to learn.
      <!--TODO - write this section (See what
 users round the world say, in section \ref{sec.users}.)-->
    </para>

    <para>Dasher is <emphasis>free software</emphasis>. It's distributed under the same license as
      GNU/Linux, the GPL. </para>

    <sect2>
      <title>How does Dasher work?</title>

      <blockquote>
        <attribution>Financial Times, 5th February 2002</attribution>
        <para>Dasher is like an arcade game: `Attack of the killer alphabets', perhaps.</para>
      </blockquote>

      <para>Dasher is a zooming interface. You point where you want to go, and the display zooms in
        wherever you point. The world into which you are zooming is painted with letters, so that
        any point you zoom in on corresponds to a piece of text. The more you zoom in, the longer
        the piece of text you have written. You choose what you write by choosing where to zoom.</para>

      <para>To make the interface efficient, we use the predictions of a language model to determine
        how much of the world is devoted to each piece of text. Probable pieces of text are given
        more space, so they are quick and easy to select. Improbable pieces of text (for example,
        text with spelling mistakes) are given less space, so they are harder to write. The language
        model learns all the time: if you use a novel word once, it is easier to write next time.</para>



      <para>A big advantage of Dasher over other predictive text-entry interfaces that offer
        word-completions to the user is that it is <emphasis>mode-free</emphasis>: the user does not
        need to switch from a writing mode to an <quote>accept-model-predictions</quote> mode.</para>

      <para>Another advantage is that it is easy to train the model on any writing style: simply
        load up an example file, then write away!</para>

      <para> It's quite hard to convey in words what Dasher looks like, so please visit <ulink
          url="http://www.dasher.org.uk/" type="http">www.dasher.org.uk</ulink> to see movies.</para>

    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>Dasher explained -- the library analogy</title>
      <para> Imagine <emphasis>a library containing all possible books</emphasis>, ordered
        alphabetically on a single shelf. Books in which the first letter is <quote>a</quote>; are
        at the left hand side. Books in which the first letter is <quote>z</quote>; are at the
        right. In picture (i) below, the shelf is shown vertically with <quote>left</quote>; (a) at
        the top and ,<quote>right</quote>; (z) at the bottom. The first book in the
        <quote>a</quote>; section reads
        <quote><computeroutput>aaaaaaaaaaaa</computeroutput>...</quote>; somewhere to its right are
        books that start <quote><computeroutput>all good things must come to an
          end</computeroutput>...</quote>; a tiny bit further to the right are books that start
            <quote><computeroutput>all good things must come to an
        enema</computeroutput>...</quote>.</para>


      <para> When someone writes a piece of text, their choice of the text string can be viewed as a
        choice of a book from this library of all books - the book that contains exactly the chosen
        text. How do they choose that book? Let's imagine they want to write
            <quote><computeroutput>all good things</computeroutput>...</quote>;</para>
      <figure>
        <title>The library of all books.</title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/a-z.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/aa-az.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/ala-alz.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>
      <para>First, they walk into the <quote>
          <computeroutput>a</computeroutput>
        </quote>; section of the library. There, they are confronted by books starting <quote>
          <computeroutput>aa</computeroutput>
        </quote>;, <quote>
          <computeroutput>ab</computeroutput>
        </quote>, <quote><computeroutput>ac</computeroutput>...</quote>; <quote>
          <computeroutput>az</computeroutput>
        </quote>; [Picture (ii)]. Looking more closely at the <quote>
          <computeroutput>al</computeroutput>
        </quote>; section, they can find books starting <quote>
          <computeroutput>ala</computeroutput>
        </quote>;, <quote>;<computeroutput>alb</computeroutput></quote>;,...; <quote>
          <computeroutput>alz</computeroutput>
        </quote>; [Picture (iii)].</para>

      <para> By looking ever more closely at the shelf, the writer can find the book containing the
        text he wishes to write. Thus writing can be described as <emphasis>zooming in on an
          alphabetical library, steering as you go</emphasis>.</para>

      <para> This is exactly how Dasher works, except for one crucial point: <emphasis>we alter the
          SIZE of the shelf space devoted to each book in proportion to the probability of the
          corresponding text.</emphasis> For example, not very many books start with an <quote>
          <computeroutput>x</computeroutput>
        </quote>;, so we devote less space to <quote><computeroutput>x</computeroutput>...;</quote>;
        books, and more to the more plausible books, thus making it easier to find books that
        contain probable text.</para>

      <para> Here is the corresponding sequence of pictures of the library in Dasher. (The character
          <quote>_</quote>; denotes the space character.)</para>
      <figure>
        <title>The library of all books.</title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/a-z.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/aa-az.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/ala-alz.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>
      <!--
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
\mbox{\psfig{figure=images/a-z.m.gif.50.ps}}&
\mbox{\psfig{figure=images/aa-az.m.gif.50.ps}}&
\mbox{\psfig{figure=images/ala-alz.m.gif.50.ps}}\\
(i)&(ii)&(iii)\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
							      -->

      <para> Dasher can be trained on examples of any writing style, and it learns all the time,
        picking up your personal turns of phrase.</para>

      <para>The image below shows the state of the Dasher interface while the user is writing the
        word `objection'; alternative words that could easily be written at this point include
        `objective', `objects_', and `object_oriented'.</para>
      <figure>
        <title>Writing `objection' in Dasher.</title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/object.gif"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>

      <para> If you find Dasher hard to imagine based on these static pictures, please take a look
        at the movies on <ulink url="http://www.dasher.org.uk/" type="http"
        >www.dasher.org.uk</ulink>.</para>


      <!--% When  you try Dasher for the first time,  please read the tips for novices.-->
    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>Tips for novices</title>
      <para>Don't give up if it takes you a minute or two to get started - within ten minutes,
        you'll be blazing along. It's a lot like driving a car. You should <emphasis>start by
          driving cautiously</emphasis>. If you can't tell where you are going, <emphasis>stop
        going</emphasis>. Indeed, you will probably learn Dasher fastest if you come to it with
        car-driving analogies in mind, rather than standard computer analogies. For example, the way
        navigation works is not by DRAGGING but by STEERING: if cars worked like windows computers,
        you would have to <quote>grab</quote> the piece of road you want, then ,<quote>drag</quote>;
        it towards you; but in a car, when you wish to drive right, you POINT RIGHT with your
        steering wheel. Dasher does not work by dragging either. <emphasis>Do not try to grab things
          and drag them. Just decide where you want to go, and point there.</emphasis></para>

      <para>
        <emphasis>The single most important concept</emphasis> that a novice user needs to
        understand is that one should always continue <emphasis>inside</emphasis> the text written
        so far: to select the book that contains <quote>all</quote>; as its first word, one does
          <emphasis>not</emphasis> enter the <quote>a</quote>; section of the library, then exit the
          <quote>;a</quote>; section, and enter the ,<quote>l</quote>; section. One enters the
          <quote>a</quote>; section, then finds the <quote>al</quote>; section that is
          <emphasis>within</emphasis> the <quote>a</quote>; section, then enters the
        <quote>all</quote>; section <emphasis>within</emphasis> the <quote>al</quote>; section.</para>

      <para> It's just like finding a name in a phonebook. To find <quote>
          <computeroutput>Alison</computeroutput>
        </quote>;, you don't go to the <quote>
          <computeroutput>A</computeroutput>
        </quote>; section of the phonebook, then the
        <quote>;<computeroutput>L</computeroutput></quote>; section: you go into the <quote>
          <computeroutput>A</computeroutput>
        </quote>; section, then find <emphasis>within it</emphasis> the <quote>
          <computeroutput>Al</computeroutput>
        </quote>; section, and so forth. Once you are in the <quote>
          <computeroutput>Al</computeroutput>
        </quote>; section, you never leave it.</para>

      <para><emphasis>The second most important idea</emphasis> is that what you have written
        depends <emphasis>only</emphasis> on where you finally end up in the library, not on how you
        got there; so there is no need to steer accurately on your way to your destination.
          <emphasis>You are allowed to cut corners.</emphasis> (For example, in the previous image,
        if you wanted to write `objects_are', it would be fine to move the mouse straight towards
        the letters `are', even if this takes the mouse across the unwanted grey `i' square.)</para>




      <para><emphasis>Common errors.</emphasis> Often, a beginner who is trying to find a particular
        letter will drive the display forwards fast while hunting for the letter. The rule of the
        road for Dasher users is just like that for car-drivers: don't drive forwards until you have
        identified where you want to go! So, after you have found the first letter of your sentence,
        and zoomed towards it, please <emphasis>SLOW DOWN and don't proceed any further into this
          first letter's square until you have figured out where you should be steering
        towards</emphasis>. Your next letter <emphasis>is</emphasis> there, immediately inside the
        first square you have entered. The letters are ordered alphabetically. If you can't see your
        letter, figure out where it must be on the basis of the letters you <emphasis>can</emphasis>
        see. Then point to the right place and enter the second letter's square.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>Example</title>
      <figure id="figHad1">
        <title>Writing <quote>
            <computeroutput>I once had a whim</computeroutput>
          </quote>;. Where should the user steer now?</title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/exampleHad2.png"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>
      <para> Imagine you want to write `<computeroutput>I once had a whim</computeroutput>'. You
        write `<computeroutput>I once ha...</computeroutput>' and the Dasher display looks like
          <xref linkend="figHad1"/>. You want to write `<computeroutput>had</computeroutput>'. What
        should you do? There are lots of letter <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>s on the screen,
        and all of them are rather small. The five arrows in <xref linkend="figHad1"/> show some of
        these <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>s. The purple arrow points to a
        <computeroutput>d</computeroutput> that we can't see yet, but we know it must be there
        because we can see `<computeroutput>a</computeroutput>',
        `<computeroutput>b</computeroutput>', and `<computeroutput>c</computeroutput>' above it.</para>
      <figure id="figHad2">
        <title>Some alternative letter <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>s, with a beginner's error
          highlighted</title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/exampleHad2a.png"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>
      <para> A common beginner's mistake is to keep rushing forward and spot
        <emphasis>any</emphasis> of these letter <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>s, and zoom into
        it. For example, <xref linkend="figHad3"/> shows what happens if the user zooms towards the
          <computeroutput>d</computeroutput> highlighted in <xref linkend="figHad2"/>.</para>
      <figure id="figHad3">
        <title>What happens when you select the wrong <computeroutput>d</computeroutput></title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/exampleHad3a.png"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>


      <para>If you go in this <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>, you are writing `<computeroutput>I
          once </computeroutput><emphasis>head</emphasis><computeroutput>...</computeroutput>'. The
        other two <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>s labelled by red arrows (in <xref
          linkend="figHad1"/>) correspond to writing `<computeroutput>I once
          </computeroutput><emphasis>heard</emphasis><computeroutput>...</computeroutput>' and
          `<computeroutput>I once
        </computeroutput><emphasis>hedge</emphasis><computeroutput>...</computeroutput>'.</para>


      <para> It is crucial to understand that there is only one correct
        <computeroutput>d</computeroutput>, namely the <computeroutput>d</computeroutput> that is
        immediately inside the blue box corresponding to letter `<computeroutput>a</computeroutput>'
        in the sequence `<computeroutput>I once ha</computeroutput>'. That blue box is highlighted
        in <xref linkend="figHad4"/>.</para>
      <figure id="figHad4">
        <title>The correct letter <computeroutput>d</computeroutput> is the one marked by the green
          arrow. This example illustrates the rule <quote>always keep going
            <emphasis>inside</emphasis> the box that you want</quote>; in this case, the blue box
          associated with the letter <computeroutput>a</computeroutput> of the word <quote>
            <computeroutput>had</computeroutput>
          </quote>; </title>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
            <imagedata fileref="figures/exampleHad4.png"/>
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </figure>

      <para>If you ever leave that blue box (as we did in <xref linkend="figHad3"/>) then we lose
        the letter `<computeroutput>a</computeroutput>'.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Summary</title>
      <para>
        <emphasis>Don't click. Don't drag. And don't speed.</emphasis>
      </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>What do the colours mean?</title>
      <para> In the English-language desktop version 3 of Dasher, <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para><emphasis>white</emphasis> squares contain the space characters (always placed at
              the bottom of the alphabet);</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>a special <emphasis>yellow</emphasis> box contains the upper case characters
              [A-Z];</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>a <emphasis>red</emphasis> box contains numerals [0-9] (if the full alphabet is
              enabled);</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>a <emphasis>green</emphasis> box contains punctuation characters (with the
              characters most similar to the space character [.,;:-] placed at the bottom, next to
              the <emphasis>white</emphasis> space character. Within the punctuation section,
              letters with similar roles are coloured similarly: punctuation characters similar to
              the period [.,;:-] are coloured slate-blue;</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>the other colours are included simply to discriminate the squares from each
            other.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>In languages with accents (grave, acute, circumflex, etc), the accents are
              displayed in an <emphasis>orange</emphasis> box.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para> In the Japanese version of Dasher, colours are used to distinguish the different
              hiragana groups (eg ka,ki,ku,ke,ko are orange).</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para> In the Korean version of Dasher, three different colours are used to distinguish
              initial consonants, vowels, and terminal consonants.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>
      <para> You can alter the colour scheme by editing the <computeroutput>colour</computeroutput>
        and <computeroutput>alphabet</computeroutput> xml files, as described in <xref
          linkend="personalising"/>.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>How to start dasher (version 4)</title>
      <para> Set the dasher application running; when the dasher window comes up, either click the
        left mouse button or press the space bar to set it going. [One of these two will work.]
        Repeat this action (click or space), when you are finished, to stop dasher from dashing.
        Your computer's mouse controls Dasher.</para>

      <para> Adjust the speed slider to fix the maximum speed Dasher will zoom at. A speed of 1 is
        good for a beginner, increasing to 2 after 5 minutes' practice, and to 4 when you are
        expert.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>How to start dasher (version 2) on pocket PC</title>
      <para> Install, run (wait a few seconds for it to load up the training file), then touch the
        screen with the stylus to make dasher move.</para>

      <para>There are three special strongly-coloured squares in this version of Dasher, coloured
        yellow, red (in some releases only), and green; all three squares do not produce any
        character; these squares indicate sub-groupings of the alphabet. (Uppercase Alphabet,
        Numerals (in some releases only), and Punctuation.)</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
  <!--<sect1 id="usage">
    <title>Using Dasher</title>
    <sect2 id="menubar">
      <title>Menus</title>
      <para> The menu bar, located at the top of the <interface>Main Window</interface>, provides
        the following commands: </para>
      <variablelist>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <guimenu>File</guimenu>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>This menu contains the following commands: <itemizedlist>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Save</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Save As</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Append to file</guimenuitem> this command can be used to append
                    the current Dasher buffer to an existing text file.</para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Import training text</guimenuitem> this command can be used to
                    add the contents of an existing text file to Dasher's language model.</para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
              </itemizedlist>
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para> This menu contains the following commands: <itemizedlist>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Cut</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Copy</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Paste</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Copy All</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
              </itemizedlist>
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <guimenu>Options</guimenu>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para> This menu contains the following commands: <itemizedlist>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem>, which launches the <link
                      linkend="prefs">
                      <interface>Preferences Dialog</interface>
                    </link></para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Edit font</guimenuitem> alters the font used in the edit
                  box.</para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Dasher font</guimenuitem> alters the size of the moving
                    characters.</para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para>
                    <guimenuitem>Dasher font size</guimenuitem>
                  </para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Enter text into other windows</guimenuitem> this causes Dasher
                    to enter text into whichever window is selected.</para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>Control mode</guimenuitem> this causes an extra node to appear
                    at the bottom of the alphabet. Here, you can edit text directly from within
                    Dasher, cause Dasher to speak text that you have entered and stop or pause
                    Dasher.</para>
                </listitem>
              </itemizedlist>
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <guimenu>Help</guimenu>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>This menu contains the following commands: <itemizedlist>
                <listitem>
                  <para><guimenuitem>About</guimenuitem> shows basic information about
                      <application>Dasher</application>, such as author's name and version number.
                  </para>
                </listitem>
              </itemizedlist>
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="prefs">
      <title>Customization</title>
      <para> To change default settings, select <guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem> command in
          <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu. This launches the <interface>Preferences
        dialog</interface>, shown in <xref linkend="prefs1"/>, <xref linkend="prefs2"/>, <xref
          linkend="prefs3"/>, <xref linkend="prefs4"/> and <xref linkend="prefs5"/>. </para>
      <figure id="prefs1">
        <title>&quot;Alphabet&quot; dialog</title>
        <screenshot>
          <screeninfo>Preferences dialog</screeninfo>
          <graphic fileref="figures/prefs1.png" format="PNG" srccredit="ME"/>
        </screenshot>
      </figure>
      <para> Dasher has support for many languages, and the choice of which language to write in is
        made with this dialog. Note that some languages (for example, Hiragana, Korean and the
        International Phonetic Alphabet) may require fonts that you do not have installed. For
        information on creating your own alphabet files, see the <ulink
          url="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/" type="http">Dasher website</ulink>. </para>
      <figure id="prefs2">
        <title>&quot;Colour&quot; dialog</title>
        <screenshot>
          <screeninfo>Preferences dialog</screeninfo>
          <graphic fileref="figures/prefs2.png" format="PNG" srccredit="ME"/>
        </screenshot>
      </figure>
      <para> Dasher has support for different colour schemes. The 'Default' colour scheme is a
        simple rotation of colours that should work with any language. Enhanced colour schemes may
        be used for languages with logical groupings (such as Hiragana or Korean) or to increase
        contrast. </para>
      <figure id="prefs3">
        <title>&quot;Control&quot; dialog</title>
        <screenshot>
          <screeninfo>Preferences dialog</screeninfo>
          <graphic fileref="figures/prefs3.png" format="PNG" srccredit="ME"/>
        </screenshot>
      </figure>
      <para>
        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>One dimensional mode</guimenuitem> maps the Y coordinate of the mouse
              position to an X/Y coordinate, for use with one-dimensional input methods.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Eyetracker mode</guimenuitem> optimisations for eyetrackers 
              specifically, makes Dasher behave as in one-dimensional mode near the right hand edge
              of the screen.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Start on left mouse button</guimenuitem> the left mouse button starts
              and stops Dasher.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Start on space bar</guimenuitem> the space bar starts and stops
              Dasher.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Start with mouse position</guimenuitem> when Dasher is paused, a red
              box appears. Hold the cursor inside the red box until a yellow box appears. Hold the
              cursor inside the yellow box. Dasher will then start..</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Copy all on stop</guimenuitem> when stopped, Dasher will copy all
              text to the clipboard automatically.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Speak on stop</guimenuitem> when stopped, Dasher will speak newly
              entered text automatically.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Pause outside window</guimenuitem> Dasher will pause if the mouse
              pointer moves outside its window.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>
      <figure id="prefs4">
        <title>&quot;View&quot; dialog</title>
        <screenshot>
          <screeninfo>Preferences dialog</screeninfo>
          <graphic fileref="figures/prefs4.png" format="PNG" srccredit="ME"/>
        </screenshot>
      </figure>
      <para>
        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Orientation</guimenuitem> alters the direction that the text moves
              in. If set to &quot;Alphabet default&quot;, the alphabet file will choose the
              appropriate direction for the alphabet.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Show toolbar</guimenuitem> you can hide Dasher's toolbar if you wish.
              Calling dasher with the '-o' switch will open a reduced-options version of dasher,
              designed for entry into other applications.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Show speed slider</guimenuitem> enable/disable the speed
            slider.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Show mouse position</guimenuitem> in some situations (such as
              one-dimensional or eyetracker mode), the absolute position of the mouse will differ
              from Dasher's perception of the mouse position. This option shows you where Dasher's
              mouse is.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Draw line between crosshairs and mouse</guimenuitem> helpful for
              users who have trouble keeping track of the pointer.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Draw box outlines</guimenuitem> increases the contrast around the
              edges of boxes, to help distinguish between them.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Change colour scheme automatically</guimenuitem> languages such as
              Hiragana are aware of which colour scheme they should be using. This option allows an
              alphabet to select its colour scheme automatically.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>
      <figure id="prefs5">
        <title>&quot;Advanced&quot; dialog</title>
        <screenshot>
          <screeninfo>Preferences dialog</screeninfo>
          <graphic fileref="figures/prefs5.png" format="PNG" srccredit="ME"/>
        </screenshot>
      </figure>
      <para>
        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Smoothing</guimenuitem> adds a &quot;uniform&quot; element to
              the language model's predictions. A smoothing value of 100 will result in an entirely
              uniform distribution being used  each box will have the same size.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Timestamp new files</guimenuitem> each file created by Dasher will
              automatically have the current time in its filename.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Distance from centreline for start on mouse position</guimenuitem>
              controls the range for the 'Start on mouse position' option.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Number of pixels that should cover the entire Y range</guimenuitem>
              some input devices do not have enough gain to cover an entire Dasher window; this
              option increases the gain of displacement on the Y axis.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>-->
  <sect1 id="reallife">
    <title>How to use Dasher in real life</title>

    <para> Dasher can be used to communicate through your computer, and (to some degree) to control
      your computer. Obviously, the simplest way to communicate with Dasher is to have the person
      you're talking to watch the screen as you write. But there are lots of other ways to
      communicate through Dasher.</para>

    <sect2>
      <title>Copy to clipboard</title>

      <para> If you have the `copy on stop' feature switched on, then, every time you stop Dasher,
        the contents of Dasher's text box get copied directly to your computer's clipboard. You can
        then use the `Paste' function of another application to transfer what you've written.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Speaking</title>

      <para>Dasher connects to your computer's built-in text-to-speech system. There are several
        ways to use Dasher for speaking.</para>

      <para> You can choose to have Dasher `speak each word': every time you pass through the end of
        a word (by entering a space character for example), that word gets spoken immediately.</para>

      <para> You can also choose to have Dasher `speak on stop': every time you stop Dasher moving,
        everything that is in the text box gets spoken.</para>

      <para> Finally, you can speak exactly when you want to by switching on <emphasis>Control
        Mode</emphasis> (which is under the Options Menu in Dasher version 3). This mode brings up
        an extra box in the Dasher alphabet, coloured grey, which works a bit like an escape key on
        a keyboard. If you go inside the Control box, you will find several control-related options:
        Stop (red); pause (yellow); Move; Delete; and Speak. Inside the Speak box are the options to
        `speak everything', `speak new' (just the new words that you wrote since the last
        utterance), and `speak again' (which re-speaks whatever was last spoken).</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Save to file</title>

      <para> You can save whatever is in the text box of Dasher as a plain text file by clicking the
        `Save file' icon in the icon bar, or using the menus at the top of the Dasher window
        (selecting File then Save).</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Send text to other window</title>

      <para> You can also have whatever is written in Dasher be directly beamed to another window.
        Enable the `send text to other window' option under the options menu. Then the window that
        you select will get Dasher's output.</para>
    </sect2>




    <sect2>
      <title>Font sizes</title>

      <para> Dasher has a text box (where the text appears) and a Dasher canvas (where all the fun
        zooming action happens). You can change the font sizes of both these regions using the
        Dasher menus at the top of the Dasher window. The two fonts are called the `Edit font' (for
        the text box's font), and the `Dasher font', I think. (I forget the exact menu names in
        Dasher version 3, sorry.) To change the edit font size bring up the usual dialog box and
        change size. To change the Dasher canvas size, find the Dasher-size option, which offers
        three to choose from, named something like: small, medium, and large.</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="personalising">
    <title>Personalizing Dasher</title>
    <para> There are three classes of files you can tweak in order to make Dasher work better for
      you: <computeroutput>alphabet</computeroutput> files, <computeroutput>colour</computeroutput>
      files, and <computeroutput>training</computeroutput> files.</para>

    <sect2>
      <title>Personalizing the language model</title>
      <para>Dasher's predictions (in version 3 of Dasher) are based not on a dictionary but on a
        training text of ordinary text. For example, when you download Dasher version 3, it comes
        with a file called <filename>training_english_GB.txt</filename>. This is 300 kbytes of
        ordinary english harvested from various documents on the internet. </para>

      <para> When you use Dasher, it stores everything you write in another personal file with the
        same name as the training file. Next time you use Dasher, it reads in the original training
        file and everything you wrote last time, to help it predict better. Dasher learns all the
        time. To get the best results from Dasher: <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>If possible, provide Dasher with a training text in your own style -- a plain text
              file made from documents you have written before, and containing your own pet phrases,
              friends' names, and so forth. Either append this file to the training file, or replace
              the original training file.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para> If you think your personal training file may have become corrupted with rubbish
              text, edit it using any plain text editor. (Or ask a friend to do this for
            you.)</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para> If you use Dasher for many months, the personal training file may become so large
              that Dasher becomes slow to start up; if so, edit the training file using a plain text
              editor. </para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist></para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>Personalizing the alphabet</title>
      <para> Which characters are available to you, and their order, is determined by the alphabet
        file. For example, you might use <filename>alphabet.english.xml</filename>. Dasher comes
        with many alternative alphabets. You can edit alphabet files to change which characters are
        in the alphabet, or their order. When you edit this xml file, it might be a good idea to
        save the new file with a new name and change the name of the alphabets in the new file, to
        avoid confusion. Each field in the xml file specifies a symbol by three items: the character
        that should be <emphasis>displayed</emphasis> (<computeroutput>d=</computeroutput>...); the
        character that goes into the <emphasis>text</emphasis> when this symbol is selected
          (<computeroutput>t=</computeroutput>...); and the background colour number of the box for
        this symbol (<computeroutput>b=</computeroutput>...), of which more below.</para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2>
      <title>Personalizing the colour scheme</title>
      <para>You can change the colours of the Dasher world in two ways. The colour file (for example
          <filename>colour.xml</filename> or <filename>colour.euroasian.xml</filename>) specifies
        the 200 colours in the palette that Dasher uses. Each line specifies red, green, blue
        values.</para>

      <para> These colours are used to colour multiple objects in dasher. If for example you want to
        change the colour of the <quote>red line</quote>;, change the second colour line of the
        colour file, which reads <computeroutput>&lt;colour r=&quot;255&quot;
          g=&quot;0&quot; b=&quot;0&quot;/&gt;</computeroutput>. </para>


      <para> You can change which of these colours is used for each symbol's box by changing the
          <quote>b</quote>; field for that symbol in the alphabet file.</para>
    </sect2>




  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="languages">
    <title>Languages</title>

    <para> Dasher works in hundreds of languages.</para>

    <para> For each language there is an alphabet file (or possibly more than one alphabet file). On
      the Dasher website we aim to supply at least one training text for each language. If we don't
      have a good training text for your language, please help us by making one and sending it to
      us.</para>

    <para> See the Dasher website for the list of languages supported by Dasher. As of October 2005,
      all the major languages of the world are well supported, with the exception of Japanese and
      Chinese, for which Dasher version 3 offers only phonetic support (hiragana and pin-yin). In
      Dasher version 4, we will provide full support for Japanese and Chinese. </para>

    <!--    %% Dasher works beautifully in Korean-->


  </sect1>



  <sect1 id="specialneeds">
    <title>Dasher Special Needs Guide</title>

    <para> Dasher is designed on the principle of getting <emphasis>as much information as
      possible</emphasis> from the gestures you can make.</para>

    <para> We can get information from whichever of the following is easiest for you: <orderedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            <emphasis>Continuous</emphasis> gestures (conveyed via a joystick, trackpad, head mouse,
            or gaze tracker, for example) often achieve the highest rates of writing.</para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            <emphasis>Discrete</emphasis> gestures (switches, button presses) may be able to convey
            information in three different ways:</para>
          <orderedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para> The <emphasis>time</emphasis> at which you press a button can convey
                information. (This idea is used in grid systems controlled by a single
              button.)</para>
            </listitem>
            <listitem>
              <para>
                <emphasis>How long</emphasis> you press a button for can convey information. (This
                idea is used in Morse code, where two durations are distinguished.) </para>
            </listitem>
            <listitem>
              <para> The <emphasis>choice</emphasis> of <emphasis>which</emphasis> button you press
                can convey information. (This idea is used in ordinary keyboards.)</para>
            </listitem>
          </orderedlist>
        </listitem>
      </orderedlist></para>

    <sect2 id="manual7">
      <title>Continuous gestures</title>
      <para> Dasher's normal mode (<emphasis>mouse mode</emphasis>) is driven by a two-dimensional
        continuous steering gesture. Dasher also has a <emphasis>one-dimensional mode</emphasis>,
        for users who can control only one dimension.</para>

      <para> Can you make one or two continuous gestures? If you can operate a joystick, mouse,
        trackpad, or rollerball, then you have a two-dimensional control. If you can point on a
        touch-screen then that's perfect too. Can you move your nose around? If you can shake your
        head, that's a one-dimensional control; if you can nod, that's two. A head-mouse can be
        quite cheap, and it is a convenient way to drive Dasher. (We recommend the
          <emphasis>SmartNav3</emphasis> from NaturalPoint, which costs about $200, and works under
        microsoft windows only; this device used to be called the NavPoint TrackIR until 2002, when
        that brand name was transferred to a different device. We also recommend the Origin
        instruments <emphasis>Headmouse Extreme</emphasis>, which costs about $1000; it works as a
        USB mouse on any computer.) Can you waggle one finger or one foot? These head-mice can be
        used to track fingers and feet as well as heads. For a detailed comparison of SmartNav3 with
        Headmouse Extreme, please see <ulink
          url="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/Headmouse.html" type="http"
          >http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/Headmouse.html</ulink>.</para>

      <para>If you are severely paralysed, the best option may be a gaze tracker. Do you have
        control of where your eyes are looking? With a gaze tracker we can write at 25 words per
        minute. Gaze trackers are quite expensive: we paid $2000 for the QuickGlance from EyeTech
        Digital Systems, and the Tobii eyetracker costs about $20,000. [We recommend both of these
        systems. You attach QuickGlance to an existing computer; Quickglance II costs about $4000.
        Tobii is a complete computer with built-in eyetracking cameras.] Dasher also works with the
        Eye response <emphasis>Erica</emphasis>, with LC's <emphasis>Eyegaze</emphasis>, and with
        Metrovision's gaze-tracker. All three of these systems are complete computers with
        eye-tracking cameras attached.</para>

      <para> If joysticks, mice, rollerballs, and gaze trackers don't work, there may be a few other
        ways to convey a continuous one-dimensional signal. Lips and eyebrows should both work,
        though we don't know of any manufacturer selling appropriate devices. Breath is a
        one-dimensional signal too. If you can control your breath, it should be possible to make a
        breath mouse for you. We made our $22 breath mouse using a USB optical mouse, a belt, and
        some elastic, and our most experienced user can write at 15 words per minute by breath
        alone.</para>
      <sect3>
        <title>Starting and stopping</title>
        <para>There are several ways of starting and stopping Dasher. Pressing a button (for
          example, the left mouse button or the space bar) is one option. But if you can not press
          any buttons, it's possible to start and stop using only continuous gestures: in the
          options menu, select <quote>start on position</quote>; and switch on <quote>control
          mode</quote>;. When control mode is switched on, the Dasher alphabet includes a special
          Control node (a bit like an <computeroutput>Esc</computeroutput> key on a keyboard),
          within which various control functions are available. When you are inside the control
          node, Dasher moves more slowly than normal, for safety. The control node options include
          `pause' and `stop'. Use `pause' if you are half-way through writing something, and want to
          pause for a moment. Use `stop' when you have finished. <command>Pause</command> and
            <command>stop</command> produce the same behaviour, except <command>stop</command> may
          cause other automatic actions, such as `speak on stop', or `copy the text
          <!--% to clipboard --> on stop'.</para>

        <para>When Dasher is paused or stopped, it can be restarted using any of the starting
          methods that are enabled. If `start on position' is enabled, then whenever Dasher is
          stopped a sequence of large targets will be displayed; you restart Dasher by pointing at
          (or looking at) the first (red) target, then the second (yellow) target. (We use two
          targets in sequence to make it difficult to start Dasher by accident.)</para>
      </sect3>
      <sect3>
        <title>Recommendations for head-tracking</title>
        <para> Many trackers have `smoothing' options, which determine the frequency with which the
          mouse position is updated; these options are normally used to smooth and damp down the
          mouse motion. For Dasher, we don't want such smoothing. We like instant, live, raw and
          jerky mouse coordinates. If there is a `smoothing' control, turn it right down.</para>

        <para>The `gain' (sometimes called the `speed') of the head-tracker is also an important
          setting to adjust. Some trackers' gains can be adjusted in software. You can also adjust
          the gain by changing the geometry of your tracker: if you move the tracked dot from your
          forehead to the brim of a baseball cap, for example, then you roughly double the gain.
          Sitting closer to the tracker may also increase the gain. Find a gain setting that is
          comfortable. I like high gain because it allows me to steer with very small head
        motions.</para>
      </sect3>
      <sect3>
        <title>Recommendations for gaze-tracking</title>
        <para>For good results with gaze trackers, we strongly recommend that the gaze-tracker be
          made to be as responsive as possible. Many trackers have `smoothing' options, which
          determine the frequency with which the mouse position is updated and the number of
          successive gaze images used to estimate the mouse position. These options are normally
          used to smooth and damp down the mouse motion. For Dasher, we don't want such smoothing.
          We like instant, live, raw and jerky mouse coordinates. When you are navigating, your eye
          moves very quickly to the target you are interested in, and we want Dasher to respond
          instantly. The ideal settings for Dasher may be very different from the ideal settings for
          other software. Ask your eyetracker manufacturer to make it easy to change the settings
          when switching application. </para>

        <para> Dasher has several options designed for use with gaze-trackers. We recommend using
            <emphasis>eyetracker mode</emphasis> (under Options/Preferences/Control). In this mode,
          the dynamics of Dasher are slightly different from standard dynamics, making
          error-correction easier by gaze.</para>

        <para>If your gaze-tracker's calibration drifts with time, for example when your head moves,
          then you should select the <emphasis>Autocalibrate eyetracker</emphasis> feature. When
          this feature is switched on, Dasher keeps track of your steering and infers the vertical
          calibration error, and corrects for it. You can see this correction taking effect by
          noticing the vertical offset between the mouse position as displayed by Dasher (by the tip
          of the red line) and the gaze-tracker's mouse position (shown by the system's mouse
          cursor).</para>

        <para>To avoid difficulties with the mouse being bounded by the top and bottom of the
          screen, we recommend choosing a window size for Dasher that is <emphasis>not</emphasis>
          full-screen in size. Place the Dasher window so that there is a margin above and below the
          Dasher canvas.</para>

        <para><emphasis>Technical note:</emphasis> As well as through mouse emulation, Dasher is
          able to receive tracking information from gaze trackers, head trackers, or similar systems
          directly by means of a system socket. This option can be configured in the 'Input Device'
          section of the 'preferences' dialogue.</para>
      </sect3>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="manual8">
      <title>Discrete Gestures</title>
      <para>We have several versions of <emphasis>button Dasher</emphasis>, available in Dasher
        Version 4.</para>

      <sect3>
        <title>Are time-critical gestures not an option?</title>
        <para>Some ways of conveying information make use of the <emphasis>timing</emphasis> of
          gestures. However, some people can't make gestures at a required instant. For example,
          spastics find it very difficult to do an action `exactly now!'</para>

        <para>If time-critical gestures are not an option, go to <xref linkend="no_time_critical"/>.</para>

        <para>If you <emphasis>can</emphasis> convey information by <emphasis>precisely
          timed</emphasis> gestures, go to section <xref linkend="timed"/>.</para>
      </sect3>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="no_time_critical">
      <title>`Timeless' choices of Dasher</title>
      <para> So, you want to steer Dasher at your own pace. Can you make fairly-accurate continuous
        gestures, given time? For example, can you position a pointer accurately on a screen, then
        press a button to indicate that you are ready? Or can you touch a touch-screen fairly
        accurately? <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>If so, try <emphasis>click mode</emphasis>. Go to <xref
                linkend="time_critical_button"/>.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para> Otherwise try <emphasis>direct button mode</emphasis> or <emphasis>menu button
                mode</emphasis>. Go to <xref linkend="no_time_critical_button"/>.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>
      <sect3 id="time_critical_button">
        <title>`Timeless' continuous Dasher: click mode</title>

        <para> In <emphasis>click mode</emphasis>, you position the mouse pointer where you want to
          go, then press a button when you are ready. Dasher then zooms in on the position you
          chose.</para>

        <para> Alternatively, if you have a touch screen, a single touch on the screen initiates a
          zoom to that position.</para>
      </sect3>
      <sect3 id="no_time_critical_button">
        <title>`Timeless' choices of Button Dasher</title>
        <para> How many different switches, keys, or buttons can you easily operate? </para>
        <variablelist>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>1</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>With just one button, the only timeless way to convey information is by the
                  <emphasis>duration</emphasis> of your button-presses. Can you make a distinction
                between short presses and long presses? If so, you can use <emphasis>menu
                  button-Dasher</emphasis>. Connect up your short press to the `menu' action, and
                your long press to the `select' action. </para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>2</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>You can use <emphasis>menu button-Dasher</emphasis>. Connect one button to the
                `menu' action, and the other to the `select' action. If one button is easier to
                press, make that button the `menu' button. </para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>2.5</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>If you can easily press two buttons, and, for special occasions, you are able to
                press a third button, you can use <emphasis>menu button-Dasher</emphasis> or
                  <emphasis>direct button-Dasher</emphasis>. </para>
              <orderedlist>
                <listitem>
                  <para> Set up <emphasis>menu button-Dasher</emphasis> as described above, and use
                    the third button as your escape key -- to make Dasher go away, for example.
                    [This feature is not currently provided within Dasher.]</para>
                </listitem>
                <listitem>
                  <para> In <emphasis>direct button-Dasher</emphasis>, each button produces a
                    particular navigation action such as `up', `down', or `back'. If you have 2.5
                    buttons, map the convenient two to `up' and `down', and the inconvenient button
                    to `back'.</para>
                </listitem>
              </orderedlist>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>3</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>You can use <emphasis>direct button-Dasher</emphasis> or <emphasis>menu
                  button-Dasher</emphasis> as described above.</para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>4, 5, 6, or 7</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>With more than three buttons, you have the option to use <emphasis>direct
                  button-Dasher</emphasis> with three, four, five, or six `forward' directions.
                Please try <emphasis>menu button-Dasher</emphasis> too, even though it uses only two
                buttons.</para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>8 or more</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>Try <emphasis>direct button-Dasher</emphasis> and <emphasis>menu
                button-Dasher</emphasis>. With this many buttons, you also have the option of using
                a system like T9 -- the predictive-text system found on many mobile phones. You may
                wish to investigate <emphasis>Tapir</emphasis>, a disambiguating on-screen keyboard
                from the developers of Dasher.</para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
        </variablelist>
      </sect3>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="timed">
      <title>Button Dashers that exploit timing</title>
      <para>There are two Dasher modes which make use of precise timing information, and generally
        require fewer button presses than the nn-time-critical modes:</para>
      <sect3 id="onebutton">
        <title>(One button) dynamic mode</title>
        <para>When started, Dasher will zoom towards a point towards the top or bottom of the
          display. A short button press will switch the point of zoom to the oposite side. Text can
          be entered by pressing the button when the desired phrase reaches the edge of the
        display.</para>
      </sect3>
      <sect3 id="twobutton">
        <title>Two button dynamic mode</title>
        <para>Dasher zooms continuously towards the centre of the screen, with the two buttons being
          used to shift the display up and down. The buttons should be pressed whenever the desired
          text is aligned with the two markers.</para>
      </sect3>
      <sect3>
        <title>Correcting errors</title>
        <para>In either dynamic mode, there are three options for error correction: using an
          additional button, long presses or multiple presses. In all cases these actions will
          switch to a mode where Dasher unzooms at a fixed rate. In this mode, one more press will
          stop Dasher and a second press will return Dasher to forward zooming.</para>
      </sect3>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="modesummary">
    <title>Summary of Dasher Modes</title>
    <para> The various modes of <application>Dasher</application> are listed below. The mode may be
      changed via the <emphasis>
        <quote>edit</quote>
      </emphasis> menu. Select <emphasis>
        <quote>Preferences</quote>
      </emphasis> and then <emphasis>
        <quote>Control</quote>
      </emphasis>. Each mode has a number of variable parameters associated with it which can be
      adjusted using the <emphasis>options</emphasis> button located below the mode menu. </para>

    <sect2 id="normal">
      <title>Normal</title>
      <para> The original <application>Dasher</application> mode. Functions using a two dimensional
        steering gesture, from a mouse, say. A one-dimensional mode is also available, for those who
        may not be able to control two-dimensions, and a special eyetracker mode is available for
        those using Dasher with a gaze or head tracker. Dasher can be started using mouse position
        alone if clicking is not possible - select 'Start on Mouse Position' and 'Circle Start' to
        allow starting and stopping by dwelling in the circle in the centre of the display. The 'Two
        Box' start mode starts Dasher by dwelling in the two boxes in sequence. In the latter case
        stopping must be done through control mode.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="click">
      <title>Click Mode</title>
      <para> In <emphasis>click mode</emphasis> you position the mouse pointer where you want to go,
        then press the button when you are ready. <application>Dasher</application> then zooms into
        the place where you clicked. </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="menu">
      <title>Menu Mode</title>
      <para> One button is used to select a location, and once a second button is pressed
          <application>Dasher</application> zooms to that location. The large box occuring last in
        the cycle is used to zoom out.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="direct">
      <title>Direct Mode</title>
      <para>Direct mode is similar to menu mode, except boxes are assigned directly to each button
        rather than being selected in sequence.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="compass">
      <title>Compass Mode</title>
      <para>Compass mode makes use of four buttons. Two buttons are used to control vertical
        position. When the required vertical position has been reached a third button is pressed to
        zoom in. After zooming in on the location, the user once more selects vertical position. A
        forth button zooms out if an error is made.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="dynamic">
      <title>(One Button) Dynamic Mode</title>
      <para>
        <application>Dasher</application> continually zooms in and a single button may be used to
        move <quote>up</quote> and <quote>down</quote>. There is also a <emphasis>Two Button Dynamic
          Mode</emphasis> where two buttons are used to control motions <quote>up</quote> and
          <quote>down</quote>. A third button, long presses or multiple presses can be used to
        unzoom and correct errors. </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="buttondynamic">
      <title>Two Button Dynamic Mode</title>
      <para>
        <application>Dasher</application> continually zooms in, whilst two buttons are used to
        control vertical motion. Correction is performed in the same way as One button dynamic
      mode.</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>





  <sect1 id="authors">
    <title>Authors</title>
    <para>
      <application>Dasher</application> was written by the members of The Dasher Project
        (<email>dasher@mrao.cam.ac.uk</email>). To find more information about it, please visit
        <application>Dasher's</application>
      <ulink url="http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/" type="http"> Web page</ulink>. Please
      send all comments, suggestions, and bug reports to the <ulink url="http://bugs.gnome.org"
        type="http">GNOME bug tracking database</ulink>. Instructions for submitting bug reports can
      be found on-line at <ulink url="http://bugs.gnome.org/Reporting.html" type="http">
        http://bugs.gnome.org/Reporting.html</ulink>. If you are using GNOME 1.1 or later, you can
      also use command <command>bug-buddy</command> for submitting bug reports. </para>
    <para> This manual was written by The Dasher Project (<email>dasher@mrao.cam.ac.uk</email>).
      Please send all comments and suggestions regarding the manual to the GNOME Documentation
      Project at <email>docs@gnome.org</email>. You can also add your comments online by using
        <ulink type="http" url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/doctable/">GNOME Documentation Status
      Table</ulink>. </para>
  </sect1>
</article>
