Exploring Virtual Keyboard Position in Mixed Reality

Joshua Reynolds, Scott Kuhl, Keith Vertanen

Companion Proceedings of the Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS 2026), 2026.

Entering text on a mixed reality headset while on the go is often performed by typing on a midair keyboard with your index fingers. However, midair keyboards deprive users of the tactile feedback of physical devices. We investigated providing tactile feedback by positioning a virtual keyboard on a table or wall. The keyboard was deterministic (without auto-correct), supported mixed-case typing with symbols, and relied only on the hand-tracking provided by a commodity headset's egocentric cameras. Users typed fastest with the midair keyboard, achieving a mean entry rate of 12 words per minute, and preferred it overall. Mean character error rates were below 1% in all conditions.