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Watch That Tiny $74 1.5GHz Android-Powered Thumb-Puter In Action Thinking of buying that super-expensive graphics tablet? Maybe you don’t need to, because Suck are offering this digital pencil that mimics the human finger, allowing it to be used on touch pads.
Using a pencil is more intuitive than drawing with a touch-pad, but I’m not sure how useful this is actually going to be, cute as it is. It’s made from a ‘super special space age silicone’ and should be available soon. [Suck]
Apple is a further tinkering with its MultiTouch interface, now showing how it might be implemented on a Macbook Pro in a patent application that extends the idea from an earlier filing in 2004. No, you won’t be smudging up that gleaming screen with your pasty paws—the touchscreen on this Macbook is not actually a touchscreen at all, but a seriously widened touchpad.
Betting that someday soon there will be computers in home theaters, Avago Technologies created an input device module that works like a mouse, scroll wheel or joystick depending on your situation and preference. Keep in mind, we’re not talking about the picture of the remote here, just that little black circular input device. But this picture above has caused a bit of a stir, because its user interface and button layout is similar to the one used in today’s Logitech Harmony 880 remote controls.
FuRo and Leading Edge Design, the guys who came up with the Halluc II robot have been showing off the little Linux beastie’s moves, using their Hull cockpit. Boasting a 150-cm hemispherical screen which displays video from the camera embedded at the front of the robot, the cockpit has another little trick up its sleeve. Check out the two vids below.
Those dudes at Apple sure love to patent things. For every patent they file that actually makes its way into a device that’s sold to consumers, there have got to be 30 others that just sit there collecting dust, waiting for an opportunity to sue the pants out of the next guy to come up with the same idea. Case in point? Check out all these variations on the iPhone’s touch keyboard that Apple holds patents on.
No predictive text, but plenty of popup letter action, plus sliding. In landscape mode, the letters here seem to have a bit more breathing room between letters, esp on the 4-inch screen. [JKOntheRun]
Lomak (Light Operated Mouse and Keyboard) allows for control of an entire computer through the use of a light pointer, accommodating those who have difficulty with traditional input devices.
Operated by hand or head, users aim the beam of light at a pad holding rotary-style letters and numbers. As the light passes over each button, it appears on screen without the need for clicking or nodding or any special gestures. Thereby, typing requires only slight dexterity in a system with nearly no learning curve. Also, no special software or calibration is required, and the Lomak in no way changes the UI of your existing programs.
The Lomak won gold in the 2007 IDEA design awards and we hope to see the design actualized soon. How men everywhere will explain the need for hands-free web browsing is not yet known. [design via scifitech]
It may not be as fancy-schmancy as Microsoft Surface or Jeff Han’s demos but this video of a Linux-based MPX multi-touch table shows that things are moving full speed ahead in the land of the free penguins. We talked with developer Peter Hutterer, who gave us his insight on the project, the iPhone and the ongoing multi-touch craze.
Just in time for the return of Harry Potter, Logitech lands its own magic wand, the MX Air mouse. It responds to the Freespace motion control technology when held aloft, especially when aimed at a Media Center PC or other “10-foot” PC application. Gesture controls are included: in a music app, a nudge to the left will turn down volume, a circle to the right will skip to the next track. On the desk, tracks movement via laser like other Logitech rechargeable mice, but it’s missing a scroll wheel. In place of that is—yup, you guessed it—a touch-sensitive scroll panel. galleryPost('LogitechMXAir', 4, 'Logitech MXAir');
The “Minority Report” interface is a popular one to namecheck recently. The latest company to do so is the Swiss outfit Atracsys, whose interactive system, dubiously dubbed “beMerlin,” optically (surprise) tracks hand movements and promises to deliver the same intuitive awesomeness Tom Cruise experienced, minus the awesome gloves.
But the demo video on their site so far mostly shows off stuff we’ve seen touch/surface computers do before: move stuff around in really slick ways.
That said, the fact that you don’t actually have to put your fingers on anything is a slight twist, and if done correctly, could be more intuitive than having to leave actual smudge marks on glass. Or it might just come down to whether or not you’re a hands- on type of person.
beMerlin [Atracsys]
