Feature suggestions. Minimizing stroke and eye distances

Per your suggestion I am posting the private e-mail that I sent.
In summary;
tapping a letter works as usual. Moving a short stroke selects the single char that is displayed on the keycap in that direction. Moving a little further away activates a menu of choices and displays the .. On the key. Slightly further actually highlights the mid item on the menu. Moving up and down now highlights other choices.. Moving back to origin cancels menu.
The long version:
1. when dragging for a short stroke (usually an alternate version of the letter) the letter you started on should change to that character since it fits. Visually it is closer to what you are probably looking at than a menu above the screen. Remember this is a visual interface not a touch one like a keyboard.

2. When dragging a long stroke, the character on the key could change to .. (Signifying long stroke/menu pick active) and the menu ALWAYS appear above the keyboard. Once it does, a half second or so (user defined) of pen lift should be allowed to reach the menu and select an item (Selection should always occur on the upstroke to allow for mistap.) In other words each character acts as a target with the multi-item selection occuring in a consistant place.

3.If you really want speed the process: READ THIS!!
If the menu choices contain three or more items, begin highlighting the MID item. That way, once the menu has appeared, changing motion to up or down could highlight an item without actually needing to touch it. Alternately moving away or tward the origin point would still select a menu item while returning to the key of origin (back to a short stroke) would cancel the menu and allow you to move in a different direction. Lifting within the letter after a menu has shown up should be the equivilant of "never mind"; nothing should output. This takes care of the "I know that I put the menu choice around here somewhere" syndrome.

4. The further away from the point of origin could display multiple dots on the keytop signifying distance kind of like dice. They would then also signify menu choice. Remember, this is ALL about minimizing movement; eye as well as pen. Once a menu arrangement has been memorized, I just have to drag utill I see the right number of dots on the key then let go. I don't need to look at the menu AT ALL!! If I chose the up/down motion I would want to be looking at bars (Mini menu highlight) that move up and down on the keytop in response to movement.
How many scan lines do you have on a keytop... ;-)If there are only three menu choices use multiple scan lines per choice (top third, Mid third, third) if there are four then divide the scan lines in fourth and select the second item by default. That way I also have a visual cue as to how many items are on the menu that has popped up without actually having to look at it...

5. Now that we have a mini menu on the keytop, put the two dots in the middle of the keytop, to signify that a menu has appeared. Turn the two dots into a bar once the highlight has appeared. Now the keytop interface is the same wether I drag diagonally or change to up/down once the menu has appeared... Rememer, people move a mouse on a desktop while watching the screen. Train them to be pentop users... And paper & pencil people too..!