CVMetrics FAQ
What does it do?
Measures your finger muscle activity to develop a profile of the cadence and habits of your typing (it is not judgmental!).
How does it work?
The profiler is a small-footprint, temporary app, that makes those measurements and calculates a cadence profile. The “how” is patent-pending and a trade secret.
What does it cost to get and use the profiler?
The profiler is free.
What instructions for use?
Just get it and type anywhere in any app on your Windows PC.
How do I get it?
Download it (either save, or run)from:
www.tinyurl.com/cvmetrics
This is pretty simple, right – I mean you just compare typing and you’re done, right?
Right … and if it were that simple, you’d see this running everywhere. It’s a highly complex program that makes hundreds of thousands of calculations based on very accurate measurement of your typing activity.
What should I type?
It depends on the purpose for the use – see FAQ’s below.
How should I type?
Type in your normal way. Nothing special. There’s no system to game, so special approaches/styles are not needed, and could defeat the benign purpose of the system. One could theoretically type in many artificial styles — but then that wouldn’t be you, would it?
How much typing is enough?
Obviously one letter isn’t much help, and 5,000 keystrokes are way over the top. It depends on the purpose for the use – see FAQ’s below.
What if I switch to different styles of keyboards, such as the old/regular one, and my new, split curved fancy one?
Our testing indicates no measurable change.
Are there any keyboard keys that I shouldn’t use?
No, but only major characters, numbers and punctuation keys are “looked at.”
Can I cut and paste?
No – there’s no cadence in muscle movement in doing that.
Can I enter text using a macro?
No – there’s no cadence in muscle movement in doing that.
How short can a test be?
If you’ll type the same short phrase 10-15 times, it can be 8-10 characters long.
Is there any maximum length of typing?
No.
I was asked for three kinds of sample typing – 1 short password-like phrases 10-15 times
This is for the OPEN PASSWORD use case. That’s where others may have learned your password, or for some reason there is a shared password, and you want to know WHO entered it.
I was asked for three kinds of sample typing – 2 One long sentence 5-7 times
This is for the SHARED MACHINE scenario (e.g., a nursing station) where several people use the same machine, and it’s important to know WHO entered what.
I was asked for three kinds of sample typing – 3 Around two pages of “whatever I want” free text?
Give us a couple of pages (all at once, or even better, over time), and our system will “get to know you” and generally be able to recognize WHO typed what — no matter what they typed, no matter what the app. Of course, comparisons are far more reliable when the same kind of applications are examined.
Why do I need to repeat shorter typing phrases/sentences several times?
In order to get a fair picture of muscle movement patterns.
What if I make a mistake?
No problem. You can either use the backspace key and go back to fix it, or just keep on typing and re-enter the letters in their correct order. Remember, our system does not make judgments, about spelling, word choice, mistakes, etc.
What if I get interrupted?
No problem. Just stop and resume “whenever.”
What if I need to pause to think about what to do next?
No problem. Start and stop whenever you need to.
Does spelling matter?
No. Spelling is irrelevant.
What about autocorrect?
You can leave it on or off, and it won’t matter if it corrects what you type, because our system won’t see that change – no muscle movements!
What if I get tired and slow down?
That will change your cadence, of course. Too much, and the “tired you” is no longer like the “normal you.” But the test can be repeated as often as required, and cadence measurements can be recorded and labeled with reference to circumstance, personal condition/ability, time of day, etc., in addition to being related to the KIND of app in which the typing is done. Clearly, for example, there are different patterns of typing involved based on whether you are writing e-mails composing as you go in your head, copying text from another document, or carefully picking your way through some web form-fill app.
Will my cadence be affected by my overall situation when I type?
It can be (see above).
What if I type differently in different applications?
It’d be best to measure cadence by app in those circumstances.
Does the cadence measurement system work differently on applications than, say, fill-in-the-blank forms?
The system works the same – it’s YOU that changed.
What platforms and operating systems are supported?
Windows XP, Vista and 7, both 32 and 64 bit machines.
How come this has to be a desktop app – why can’t I just do it over the web?
There are too many variations in web connection speeds for any reliable timing measurements to be made.
How do I turn it off/stop profiling?
If when you downloaded it, you simply hit “Run,” then after you’ve sent your profile in electronically, the app will simply disappear — it does not hang around!
I don’t want to keep the profiler around – how do I get rid of it after the test?
If you installed it, just delete the exe. There is no “Windows Install, “ nothing put in the Registry, and no program to “Add/Remove Programs” uninstall. Just delete it.
If I do this profiling, will any of my keystrokes leak out such that my content might be exposed to others?
No. No text is stored, only metrics — and those are also highly encrypted.
Can the profiler be told just to work during certain applications and not others?
Yes. Our system can also operate in conjunction with its sister application, TickStream® and then will track cadence and habit BY APPLICATION.
How can I see the results? Who can see my results/typing?
You will need a viewer app, or we can run a “WebEx” like demo for you.
What comparisons are available?
Our system will compare typing among individuals, and you-against-you over time.
What if I want the resulting ID information to use in another app?
We can deliver the “report” statistically by common XML web services.
Can your company help bake your capability into my app?
Yes- please call us!
What does it cost to get the management app??
It depends upon the requirement – please call us.
What does it cost to get the capability built into my app?
It depends upon the requirement – please call us.