Genetic Algorithm to Generate Optimized Soft Keyboard

International audienceIn this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm formal framework to optimize character location on a soft keyboard. This method is described regardless of the language and layout used and can then easily be adapted to any language and layout. In this scope, we present a measure, based on Mackenzie's model, to estimate the performances of the best characters in a given layout. We apply our method to common English language and two different layouts (hexagonal and rectangular layout) in order to compare with FITALY, OPTI or Metropolis keyboards. In all configurations, our method has the best performance