Glossary

These are a list of the more common terms which apply to use of our Kord Interface Technology, some of which are to be found on this website.

Ambihand Not resolveable as either the right or left hand

BreakChord A chord action that is initiated once all digits have been released

CGUI Chordic Graphical User Interface

Chord One or more digits activating appropriate keys to signal an intent

Chord assignment The mapping of a particular chord or chord sequence to an action. There are numerous competing factors, such as - ease of use, ease of learning, speed of operation and memorability. Consideration must also be given to consumption of the available chord set and the accommodation of new functionality.

Chord shape Shape refers to the structure of the chord, which fingers are pressed. Temporal shape is also considered, how long a chord is held for example.

Chord facility Due to the differences in dexterity between digits of the hand, there is measurable variation in the forming of different chords, and transitions between them.

Chord presentation The visual, audio or other feedback that teaches and informs the user of the available operations. In a visual environment symbols are used to show what to press.

Chord Press The pressing and releasing of one or more digits to form a chord

Chordnomics Concerns itself with the operation of chording human input devices; the interaction between a user and chord shape, presentation, facility and assignment.

Couplet A chord action that requires 2 consecutive chord presses to activate

Digits The fingers or thumb of the user’s hand

Glyph A symbol indicating which digits to press to form a chord

Hand chord value Similar to raw chord value, but also representing the left hand

HoldChord Similar to a Makechord except that a continuing action is implied

Inactive Neither pressed nor released

Keys Switches that are pressed and released to form chords

Kord® IT Kord® Interface Technology

Kord® Kernel  Low level interface between Kord® hardware and software

Kord® OS A runtime library which provides Kord® operational services

MakeChord An action which is initiated when digits are depressed (or after a delay)

Multiplet Requires 2 or more consecutive chord presses to activate

Press To activate a binary input device (eg. switch or key)

Raw chord value A decimalised binary representation of the chord (ambidextrous)

Release To deactivate a binary input device

Singlet A chord action that requires 1 chord press to activate

Singleton    A single key chord, ie. only one digit pressed and released

Triplet A chord action that requires 3 consecutive chord presses to activate