Gyroscopic Mouse 196
Aron Schatz writes "You've heard of wireless mice, but how about deskless ones? This baby doesn't need a suface of any kind to be used. This one comes direct from Gyration."
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Logitech (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Logitech (Score:2, Informative)
Logitech has something kind of similar to the pointing device in the article, just it's not a gyro based (optical though), it has a laser pointer, and it's based on Bluetooth rather than RF. It's called a Cordless Presenter, more info can be found here [logitech.com] and it costs a lot more than the gyro mouse.
Re:Logitech (Score:1)
Not to be a total geek (isnt this the place tho), but Bluetooth is RF. TCP/IP over Bluetooth over radio freq.
Re:Logitech (Score:1)
How does this work? (Score:1)
move it back to center without the pointer tracking.
How is this accomplished with a gyroscope mouse?
Re:How does this work? (Score:1)
Wow! (Score:1)
Who says Penguins can't fly?
Been around for a while? (Score:1)
Re:Been around for a while? (Score:4, Funny)
Differences include what order they occur in alphabetically and number of letters.
Re:Been around for a while? (Score:1)
That makes much more sense to me than trying to grip a mouse with 2 fingers and try and click mouse buttons with 2 others. On top of that, seeing as how mouse usage is the primary use the mouse hand for most computer users, I don't think they're going to be able to hold them aloft for very long.
Re:Been around for a while? (Score:1)
Not so new (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not so new (Score:2)
Another place where this would be a problem in games, where there is not a set "screen" that you can use to define the travel area - theoretically you could spend the entire game moving the mouse to the right (hint - don't play Quake with a digitizing pad).
Re:Not so new (Score:2)
Re:Not so new (Score:1)
And yes, it is (the old GyroPoint, at least) pretty awkward with a lot of games.
Re:Not so new (Score:1)
I'm not sure what company it's from, but it's a good few years old. I do know, however, that it doesn't double as an optical mouse.
I'd love to give this one a spin, but the cradle bugs me. What if I'm using the computer and it goes dead? I can't think of anything more inconvenient than to be rat-less (or have to crawl on the floor to plug in a new mouse) while I wait for it to charge.
The solution I prefer is this one [a4tech.com] from A4-Tech [a4tech.com]. When your juice runs low, you simply plug in the charge cable and run as a wired mouse for a while (2.5 hours).
That's all well and good... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:That's all well and good... (Score:1)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/14/19212
tiredness (Score:5, Funny)
That's the advantage of a desk mouse, you can rest your arm.
Then again, lots of geeks wouldn't find this a problem due to the extensive use of their right arm, what's a little more going to do?
Re:tiredness (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:tiredness (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:tiredness (Score:1)
Re:tiredness (Score:2)
You wouldn't use this for long-term computing, but to have it on the sofa for browsing instead of leaning over to grab a mouse is handy.
I stopped using mine for two reasons: 1. The RF sync system was very touchy and it would lose sync a lot when the voltage dipped. After a while, even replacing the rechargeable battery didn't help. 2. RF Optical mice got really cheap, and work just as well sitting on a sofa cushion as they do on a mousepad, and in a pinch you can use your free hand as a "surface" and hold it in the air.
--Blair
Re:tiredness (Score:2)
Uhmm (Score:3, Informative)
Are you confused? (Score:1)
Re:Are you confused? (Score:1)
Re:Are you confused? (Score:1)
Applications (Score:1)
Re:Applications (Score:1)
Useful around kids, I'd think (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
He suggests using it in bed (Score:2, Funny)
Wonder what kind of sites his bedtime surfing frequents?
old news (Score:1)
Re:old news (Score:1)
Gives a new meaning to mousepad upgrades (Score:1)
"Well, pick up the mouse and move it to the left of the pad"
"But even picked up the pointer still follow when I move to the left"
"Ah, you need our $2000 desk upgrade then"
OG.
Re:Gives a new meaning to mousepad upgrades (Score:2, Informative)
Almost there ... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Almost there ... (Score:1, Offtopic)
Good for 3d movement. (Score:1)
Re:Good for 3d movement. (Score:1)
Actually... (Score:2)
I like that idea much better for playing 3d games. We don't use mice. We use SWORDS!
Re: (Score:1)
These are sooooo last millenium... (Score:2)
Re:These are sooooo last millenium... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:These are sooooo last millenium... (Score:1)
this is not news... (Score:2, Informative)
slashdot should be ashamed of their blatent front page ads. was it really worth it taco?!
Mouse dealers are scamming desks? (Score:1)
I have never gotten a desk with a mouse purchase in the past.
I've been ripped off. Smells like a class action lawsuit to me!
All we need now... (Score:1)
Seriously, though, these things are kinda cool. I had a prof who used a laptop and a projector to run powerpoint presentations, and he had a remote mouse. It wasn't so much of a mouse as a presentation device (two mouse buttons, a laser, and mouse pointer), so it was kind of hard to do precision moving of the pointer.
We spent a class testing the range on it, though, by moving to other rooms, outside, etc, and changing the slides. That one had over 25 feet range, however, without line of sight required.
Take a little getting used to (Score:1)
Wow! (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds good, just keep it away from Grandma. (Score:1)
These have been around for a while... (Score:2)
179 bucks, too! (Score:2, Funny)
Does it make a buzzing noise? (Score:1)
Re:Does it make a buzzing noise? (Score:1)
gaming virtues of handheld mice... (Score:2, Interesting)
I know that there have been previous versions of handheld wireless mice, but they lagged bad, this sounds like it would be better.
Re:gaming virtues of handheld mice... (Score:1, Interesting)
why dual mode? (Score:1)
Other then in a niche for presenters I don't see the value. Strange that they market it as a gaming device.
Re:why dual mode? (Score:1)
Re:why dual mode? (Score:1)
Because gyros measure changes in orientation, not position. I would imagine that when using it deskless, you control the pointer by changing the direction in which the mouse is pointing, not by moving the mouse (which won't actually be detected by the gyros at all).
Anyone who's used one care to confirm?
Re:why dual mode? (Score:1)
Re:why dual mode? (Score:1)
nah.... (Score:1)
Gyroscope gadgets (Score:2)
I wouldn't wonder if in a few years you'll see gyro engines popping out on the market. It's a very cool technology.
Looks hard on the fingers (Score:2)
It's hard for me to say without having it my hand, but I gather this can be used like a desktop mouse as well as just in your hand.
Unfortunately, it looks very much like a desktop mouse, and I'm not entirely sure how it should be held if you're not using it on a surface. It looks like it's meant to be held with the fingers underneath and the thumb over the buttons, but this seems a bit cumbersome to me.
Ideally, you would still want to click with the same fingers as a desktop mouse, but it seems to me that doing this comfortably with a handheld device requires a completely different form. I think it would make sense to have some kind of add-on that changes the shape of the mouse depending on whether it's in the air or on a surface.
But again, I don't have the thing in my hands. I rather wish I did. :-)
Re:Looks hard on the fingers (Score:1)
The older one, anyway, is shaped pretty much like a traditional mouse, but it has a deep groove in the bottom, just above the ball. (Kinda like the groove in the sole of a dance sneaker [discountdance.com])
When I use it, my index finger rests in that groove, and I do indeed use my thumb to click the buttons. It is a little awkward, but since I prefer to mouse lefty and am constantly switching mice, I'm flexible with the button-locations anyway.
What's really awkward, for me, is trying to make small left-right or up-down adjustments. Picking items off drop-down menus can be a real pain - way too easy to slip off the side of the menu.
But the freedom to move around the room and not get stuck sitting behind the presenter's machine is well worth it. Would like to try one of these new ones.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:mouse (Score:2)
Slashdot is really behind the times on occasion.
Three Dimensional Mice (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, the big advantage of a three dimensional mouse doesn't come into play with present technology; the big trick with three dimensional mice would come up if you could map O directly onto the spatial centers of the subject's.... er, user's, brain. This is not as hard as you might hope... er, think. However, experiments with monkey's controlling a pixel notwithstanding, reading someone's nervous system to get I is gonna be pretty quirky and unreliable. Therefore, you want a three dimensional mouse.
Oh, and, also:
You won't notice any problems unless your on the computer straight for 8 hours a day.
Who the hell does he think buys gyroscopic mice?!?!?! Okay, some of the same yuppies who buy Parka's good to -40* Centigrade and never Manhattan. They buy them. Mostly, however, it's people who use their computers all the time! Using your computer for eight hours at a stretch isn't good for you (and ever single person on slashdot should stop doing it!) but I need it as an option, and I don't need to have to replace my mouse at 3 AM in order to keep working.
Re:Three Dimensional Mice (Score:1)
Re:Three Dimensional Mice (Score:2)
Rotating up and down moves the cursor up and down.
Rotating around the axis perpendicular with the ground moves the cursor side to side.
To get depth, you tilt the entire mouse - you spin it around the axis parallel with it's own
That is to say - the point in space the mouse is "pointing at" is good enough to specify a two dimensional location.
If the mouse can tell when it is upside down, that can specify a depth.
Now.... I'm far from certain that I really understand how this mouse works. I'm prepared to hear that I'm smoking crack.
from south park (Score:1)
These have been around for awhile.... (Score:1)
Honestly? It was a pain in the a$$. I preferred a regular mouse behind the desk.
drawbacks (Score:2)
Can't scratch your butt either unless you remember to turn it off first.
nearly white on white text (Score:1, Troll)
Re:nearly white on white text (Score:2, Informative)
Re:nearly white on white text (Score:2)
Remember: don't just check with favorite browsers. You also need to validate to standards.
Atari 400/800 (Score:1)
Re:Atari 400/800 (Score:2, Informative)
On a related note (Score:2)
LEXX
I even used one (Score:1)
Gyration mice rock! (Score:1)
The models I'm using (at least) aren't precise enough in gyro mode for drawing lines or such. But gyro mode is fine for webbrowsing similar noncritical point-and-click stuff.
The gyros are really cute, tiny little gadgets maybe a centimeter long and half that high and wide, mounted on a tiny daughtercard. They look perfect for sticking in RC airplanes and such. Gyration lists (used to list?) a development kit for them, but the one time I tried contacting them about it, I was unable to get any reply. They seemed to be busy retreating from the general desktop mouse market into their current niche market.
Summary: Really cool technology that works like a charm. I dread the day when my last GyroPoint mouse bites the dust. So far, however, it looks entirely possible that they will outlive me...
Doh... (Score:3, Funny)
inertia and power and calibration (Score:2)
2. These 'scopes would require lots of power to keep spinning. My cordless optical uses two AA batteries a month.
3. How do you orient this thing to begin with?
Re:inertia and power and calibration (Score:5, Informative)
Gyration has more details on their technology [gyration.com] online. I evaluated the gyros for use in my GPL autopilot [sourceforge.net] project, but decided on the Tokin CG-16D units instead.
why i stopped using it (Score:2, Interesting)
it worked well -- it was nice being able to let my arms rest naturally, and i found it easy to do precise mousing with it
the reason i stopped using it was that all of the computing i do involves frequent switching back and forth from mouse to keyboard. (& my keyboard was on my desk). for that reason, it is just easier to have the mouse next to the keyboard and not have to keep picking it up and putting it down.
ymmv, though. i'd like to try it again in combination with a keyboard in an ergo-proper keyboard tray, just leaving it in my lap when i needed to type something
Presentations (Score:1)
Really useful. (Score:1)
It should be very appriciated for laptops instead of those pesky pads and pins that pretends to be mice. Another great thing to use it for is when you use a projektor and sits in a couch away from any plan surface.
Just lean back and wave the little thing.
How's your motor control? (Score:2)
been around since The Lawnmower Man (Score:1)
Does it use a special driver? (Score:2)
I really hate that aspect of the home PC industry. The packaging on a product isn't required to be specific about what it means when it says it "requires" something. Sometimes that's a lie and it just means "we only give phone support under those circumstances", and other times it really means what it says.
Re:Does it use a special driver? (Score:2, Informative)
This guy is an EDITOR? (Score:2)
Um.. no. NiCad's have a "memory effect" [bath.ac.uk] where they lose capacity if you charge them when they're not completely drained. NiMH's don't do this [thepalmtree.com], it's one of their main benefits.
Plus, TONS of incorrect word usage, grammar and spelling errors, and awfully awkward phrasing. Enough to make our own beloved
And many, many, many more. (And it's a short article!) Either English isn't this guy's main language, or he's about 12.
Re:This guy is an EDITOR? (Score:2)
If that piece was submitted to an English teacher for marking, it would have received a failing grade. I'm not asking for perfection, but how about a PASS?
I'm not trying to cut you down, but if you're going to publish stuff that badly written on the web, you had better either improve your proofreading, or learn to accept valid criticism.
FPS Games (Score:2)
not near the computer (Score:2)
Great! Can the mouse be used from another room? That would be really handy, being able to surf the internet from the next room away from the computer. Heck, you can even bring this mouse into the bathroom and keep on surfing the web.
Annoying? (Score:2)
Re:Just me? (Score:1)
S
Re:Nice copyright, Aaron (Score:1)
Any other questions just give me and email at aronschatz@aselabs.com.