I wonder how long it will take before a company like Apple give us hologram manipulation like in the Minority Report?
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Apple Researching Physical Keyboards with Motion Control to Replace Mouse
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Too complex if you ask me...something will break on it such as one of the sensors...or a few bumps/drops of the keyboard over time will whack the cameras out of sync.
I'm not sure why the whole speech recognition thing fell off the face of the planet. I remember back in 1995 Dragon Dictate was pretty hot as a new technology and here we are 16 years later and nobody uses DD yet the CPU power has increased by 1000 fold if not more.
Nice try, Apple...but I think the future is speech recognition as soon as someone gets off their butt to create it and master it...our cpus are idle about 95% of the time and even when "busy" they aren't even breathing hard.
I'm not sure why the whole speech recognition thing fell off the face of the planet. I remember back in 1995 Dragon Dictate was pretty hot as a new technology and here we are 16 years later and nobody uses DD yet the CPU power has increased by 1000 fold if not more.
Nice try, Apple...but I think the future is speech recognition as soon as someone gets off their butt to create it and master it...our cpus are idle about 95% of the time and even when "busy" they aren't even breathing hard.
Memo to Apple: IBM invented the TrackPoint a couple decades ago. It's quite nice. Please do check it out.
This + iPad and I could quite possibly give up my laptop. I can't STAND doing heavy editing of documents on a touchscreen today.
I understand the need for innovation, but what is so terrible about using a mouse? I've never found it that much of a burden to use.
This also kinda reminds me of the fork and spoon...work perfectly fine.
Somebody invented the Spork...sounds like a good idea but it's extremely rare to use or even see. I think thick soups is all it's used for.
Somebody invented the Spork...sounds like a good idea but it's extremely rare to use or even see. I think thick soups is all it's used for.
Oh, right. They don't do it because the entire computer industry is lazy. Maybe you should call them and tell them they just forgot about this. I'm sure that's the only problem.
The reason mice are horrible is that it's a device (mouse) that moves a thing (the cursor) that manipulates the actual thing you want to move (your work). It's the difference between pushing a doorbell or using a stick to push a doorbell. It's an extra thing in between you and your work and, just like the stick, all it does is make things more difficult.
That's what made people so excited about the iPhone. They can just touch the actual thing they're using. Playing Angry Birds? Just grab the bird. It's hard to over-emphasize how big of a deal that is. It's why people enjoy touch-phones and iPads so much. Everyone would love to achieve something similar on desktops, but thus far there haven't been many perfect ideas. It seems that the solutions for handheld devices don't translate well to large screens and so everyone keeps trying to think of something new and exciting.
Whatever that thing ends up being (and who knows what it'll be) it's clear that the mouse is far from perfect.
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Speech recognition? LOL. No way. Never going to happen. How in the world is one supposed to control a keypad or cursor by speech? What if you have a cold.... what if you can't talk or simply don't want to in the place you are using your device? What if you are listening to music or having a conversation while you are working on your computer? I, for one, would not like to speak to my computer day and night seeing how much I use it!
The tech of this device seems clunky, but the basic idea is excellent. If a user holds down a key to activate the motion sensors, it's a great, compact pointer. It'd get rid of 90% of my mouse use while providing quicker actions.
Hope to see something like this coming along.
... is there always some inane troll on these threads that can't handle wiping off dirt?
I type so much that I HAVE to clean my keyboard weekly or it looks like a mud bath. Same with my piano. The more I use the stuff, the dirtier it gets. YES, you need to clean the iPad, YES, clean your iPT, YES, clean your iPhone, YES, clean your keyboard, YES, clean your mouse because it gets filthy. YES, do your laundry, YES, vacuum your house, YES, wipe your ass. Start learning to clean.
Hope to see something like this coming along.
... is there always some inane troll on these threads that can't handle wiping off dirt?
I type so much that I HAVE to clean my keyboard weekly or it looks like a mud bath. Same with my piano. The more I use the stuff, the dirtier it gets. YES, you need to clean the iPad, YES, clean your iPT, YES, clean your iPhone, YES, clean your keyboard, YES, clean your mouse because it gets filthy. YES, do your laundry, YES, vacuum your house, YES, wipe your ass. Start learning to clean.
Its not a burden because we are trained in doing this ... but if you are a try typer (10 finger system), it is a interruption to take one hand of the keyboard move the mouse and put it back. Typists and Typer could be way more efficient if there wouldn't be the need for this. So yes, for many people it is not a big deal, either because they don't truly type fast or because they don't have a need for it. Nevertheless, it is a neat idea and would be cool if something comes out of it. Everybody can than select the input device that fits their needs best.
It's already been invented. Just for some reason no one is making them anymore.
That was an attempt to solve the same problem with a different technique - but I always hated these little pins in the keyboard and prefere the (multi)-touchpad as used on the MacBooks - too bad those don't come integrated in a desktop keyboard.
it seems like the technology is getting close. i think it's time for apple to release their first version of a touch keyboard and see how it's use in the real world will affect it's evolution given real world use and customer feedback. i for one would love one and would love to see how apple rolls it out. they should offer a touch keyboard as an choice vs. the current one, after a couple generations, it would probably just become the standard.
The horse-and-buggy were around for centuries.
Hence the concept of "disruptive technology".
My main concern is how precise you could get with this system. If it takes 30 seconds to position the cursor where you want it, it's no good. Obviously we haven't seen how well it does at this, but I'm not instantly assuming that just because it's a new idea, that it's practical. I reserve the right to make an opinion one way or another if a demonstration model is ever shown.
That's because you're a curmudgeon. You don't like anything new or innovative that Apple's done in the past, what? Five years?
If I have to put on gloves to use an interface, that's a serious ergonomic failure. That's like using a stylus on a smart phone. Get that junk out of the way and let me use my hands, which are the most natural methods of input I can imagine.
They've already patented a lenticular-3D system which would give that effect.
(D@MN I didn't patent it 10 years ago; never believed there could be enough bandwidth to support it...)
For now, you could achieve 95% of the same effect with off-the-shelf hardware (XBox Kinect interface plus 3D shutter glasses) and some modest custom software.
Politely disagree
I personally hope the MT and Wireless Keyboard combo do not happen.
The Magic Trackpad is unusable with my screenwriting/word processing software (probably why I never held onto a laptop), the trackpad gestures and me just do not click. That said, I could do without the frequent lost connections with my Magic Mouse. But I rarely use the Magic Trackpad these days (only when I'm not in heavy duty writing mode and arthritis is flaring)... so different strokes eh?
However, this patent solution of combining mouse and keyboard I think I could really warm up to...and/or get used to. The fewer imput devices the better I say. I'd like to see that happen.
I personally hope the MT and Wireless Keyboard combo do not happen.
The Magic Trackpad is unusable with my screenwriting/word processing software (probably why I never held onto a laptop), the trackpad gestures and me just do not click. That said, I could do without the frequent lost connections with my Magic Mouse. But I rarely use the Magic Trackpad these days (only when I'm not in heavy duty writing mode and arthritis is flaring)... so different strokes eh?
However, this patent solution of combining mouse and keyboard I think I could really warm up to...and/or get used to. The fewer imput devices the better I say. I'd like to see that happen.
I'm always amazed how many people don't like the magic mouse - I totally love it and it is (for me) the best mouse I ever used - guess it's a matter of personal preferences. I have not tried the magic trackpad yet, very tempting - but I don't want to give up my magic mouse
Dito for the Magic Mouse. It's great. I've tried the Magic Trackpad and will sell it on ebay.Don't mess with the Mouse, Apple!
It would clearly require an OS re-design. There's no way you could use this with the traditional cursor. It would be the kind of thing that would work with certain applications but you'd still have your mouse for older programs that don't support it.
This, more than anything, is probably what keeps products like this from coming to market. Too much confusion over this kind of stuff.
But, of course, I'm talking about the Mac when I say that.
Where you MIGHT see this keyboard sold is as a bluetooth accessory for the iPad. That's a place where the software wouldn't have to change much. You could do swipes and pinches without ANY software changes. Then, if they wanted to, they could add a "finger cursor" which is like a cursor on the iPad screen but really it looks more like a flashlight beam...you'd just use it the same as your finger, but by hovering over the keyboard instead of touching the screen.
THAT I can see happening. Forget the Mac. It is what it is and it's not going to change drastically. I don't see this keyboard working very well on the Mac. But this is something that could be added on top of the iPad without having to alter 3rd party software. That makes this far more likely to happen there.
Because talking constantly is, for most of us, a pain.
Because everyone around you will hear what you're doing all the time.
Because nobody wants to hear what you're doing all the time.
Because sometimes you REALLY don't want others to hear what you're doing.
Because sometimes others REALLY don't want to know what you're doing.
Because tactile interfaces are, most of the time, faster.
Because knowing what you're talking to is not a simple problem.
I dabbled in speech recognition about 20 years ago. Seemed really cool at the time, until I realized how much of a pain it is to talk to a computer, no matter how good the recognizer was.
It's already been invented. Just for some reason no one is making them anymore.
Because it sucks and people hate them.
That would be incredibly awkward dragging your fingers over the key surface. It's pretty obvious that Apple has been grooming us all for flat touch screen typing. Look at how the apple keyboard has changed over the years. The flat chiclet keys are the last step before they just flatten it to a screen. Then you can touch a couple modifiers and the right side of the touch screen changes to a track pad. Would be far more useful if the display was contextual. It just needs haptic feedback so that you would be able to have reference points. Would also be helpful if you could rest your fingers on it without typing and typing required a small press just like current keyboards do.