The Mouse Vanishes 292
countertrolling sends in a clip from Wired that begins "...researchers at MIT have found a method to let users click and scroll exactly the same way they would with a computer mouse, without the device actually being there. Cup your palm, move it around on a table and a cursor on the screen hovers. Tap on the table like you would click a real mouse, and the computer responds. It's one step beyond cordless. It's an invisible mouse. The project, called 'Mouseless,' uses an infrared laser beam and camera to track the movements of the palm and fingers and translate them into computer commands... A working prototype of the Mouseless system costs approximately $20 to build, says Pranav Mistry, who is leading the project."
Tappin to the music... (Score:2, Insightful)
Linux Drivers? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ok, so it costs 20$ to make. I have the 20$ I just need the instructions and the Linux Drivers. Come on MIT we are waiting! ;)
Re:One day... (Score:5, Insightful)
Despite what they might have told you, humans do not have servomotors in their hands. We are pretty bad when it comes to making precise motions without any tactile feedback. This is why, for example, radial menus are so much better than linear menus -- you do not require highly precise motion, just a general direction.
Ergonomics hell. (Score:3, Insightful)
This is a terrible idea. The shape of the mouse provides support to your hand and allows it to fully rest most of the time. Cupping your hand over an imaginary mouse is fine for maybe an hour at a time, but is going to cause all sorts of strain for those who use a mouse for 6+ hours a day.
Re:I like holding the mouse over fake holding one! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Tappin to the music... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interesting applications (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Ergonomics hell. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:One day... (Score:1, Insightful)
I actually prefer touchpads to using a mouse. It provides the same feedback that this would.
Re:I like holding the mouse over fake holding one! (Score:0, Insightful)
"Tap on the table like you would click a real mouse, and the computer responds."
The video shows the user moving their finger up, and then tapping back down on the desktop to simulate a click. The problem is, that's not how I really click a mouse. I leave my fingers on the buttons at all time, and when I want to click just give a bit of downward pressure until the mouse clicks.
Being forced to physically raise and lower my fingers for every mouse click is going to get really annoying really quickly.
Re:I like holding the mouse over fake holding one! (Score:4, Insightful)
Tactile feedback is actually important when it comes to being effective with your input device
Exactly. It's not JUST the screensize that makes a touch-cellphone keyboard uncomfortable.
Re:Interesting applications (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean like the Minority Report interface. Well, guess what, Spielbergs science advisor for the movie, John Underkoffler of MIT's Media Lab actually further developed the idea.
I've seen those presentations. While incredibly cool to watch, I'm still puzzling over the practicality of it. While everyone assumes that we can improve upon the mouse and keyboard, we still haven't done it yet. I won't be so rash as to say that they cannot be improved on, just that we're going to have to work awfully hard at it. I'd make a comparison to the bicycle. It's one of the most perfect transportation machines ever devised by man. People-powered, easy to operate and maintain. The Segway was pitched as being a bicycle replacement and while being incredibly cool, it most certainly could not be that. Expensive, requires power, would be on the sidewalk with people instead of a bike lane in the road, a perfect case-study in overengineering.
A minority report interface makes you wave your hands around like a conductor in an orchestra. That would have to get old very quickly.
Of the future interfaces, I think they still need a lot of baking.
1. Voice control. Getting better but still balkier than doing it yourself. My cell phone still can't even do hands-free dialing properly. We might finally see this implemented properly with GPS navigators, exactly the kind of tool you want to use without taking your hands off the more important task. And while the latest version of Dragon is amazing, it still can't take the place of
2. Touch screen. I still won't be convinced until they get rid of the grease factor. Would also prefer some tactile feedback. They're supposed to be doing stuff with making the screens buckle or vibrate in response to touch.
3. Pupil trackers. Still far off but has the potential of replacing the mouse if they can ever get it working right. Might still wind up as something useful only in specific cases -- you use a pupil tracker on your handheld but a standard mouse on your desktop.
Those are the only practical improvements I know of on the horizon. Gesture interfaces like for video games, that looks like it may be fun for entertainment but I don't know if it will ultimately be of practical value.
Re:One day... (Score:1, Insightful)
Tactile feedback for a mouse isn't really necessary.
Let's first explain why tactile feedback for a keyboard is important. Firstly, having a bit of resistance in the keys prevents us from pressing the keys accidentally through gravity alone, and not having a lot of it prevents us from tiring. Secondly, the actual shapes of the keys help to guide our fingers to grapple for the right ones.
Now let's see what the situation is for the mouse. Moving a mouse doesn't really give you any extra feedback you don't already have. You can have perfect finesse holding a pencil, tablet pen or nothing at all. In fact, the mouse, by being heavy (and even light mice are heavy compared to say, a pencil) it causes lag that you have to compensate for, strain on your tendons, and tiredness in your muscles.
The only things about a mouse where tactile feedback might be useful are for clicking and the scroll-wheel. But if implemented right for clicking the only tactile feedback you'll need is whether you're touching the table or not (assuming that the system can tell your fingers apart) and the scroll-wheel could be replaced by a gesture of some kind.
Re:I like holding the mouse over fake holding one! (Score:3, Insightful)
Me too, but not because it "feels better." I don't move my whole hand when I move my mouse - I usually use my fingers to move my mouse around quickly (thus moving large distances on my screen) while keeping my palm stationary, minimizing hand movement.
Re:Tappin to the music... (Score:3, Insightful)
That's one of the things I hate about real mice; or rather, how software is written. If I'm in a word processor or text editor or (sometimes) spreadsheet, I don't want to use the damned mouse at all! I wind up with "mouse elbow". Mice good for selecting a single item out of many, and a few other uses, but if I have a keyboard equivalent I avoid the mouse.
Re:I like holding the mouse over fake holding one! (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, its a bit strong to say that they have no problems. Sure, they may be able to accomplish whatever task they need to using the trackpad alone, but I think most people would that they would prefer a mouse. Just because something works doesn't mean its the optimal way to do things.
Re:I like holding the mouse over fake holding one! (Score:2, Insightful)