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Also for those who care, Handkey corp is taking pre-orders on the new model of the Twiddler, the T2.

Link for handykey.com. I have a T2 on order. Read this wear-hard post from Handykey president (and practically sole employee), Dr. Chris George.

God does not play dice with the universe. Albert Einstein

Handkey - mouse, keyboard and shortcut device operated by one hand.

--
Eric is chisled like a Greek Godess

• it is a cheaply produced product that reeks of russian manufacture;
• the set of drivers that came with it crashed my computer fiercly. fortunately, it just turned out that they sent me the wrong one, and i was able to download a fix from their website;
• the pedals did not have consistent action -- one required a slightly different touch to get it to work right;
• accordingly i never really trained my feet to make use of them. they are now junk in my tech junk room.

Don't get me wrong, I'm an avid sylus fan -- I couldn't live without my PalmPilot III. Although handwriting recognition software is a great form of input, it is slow and tedious. For short commands and tasks that don't demand a lot of input, stylus pads are wonderful.

There is another option that mobile computer enthusiasts have known about for some time now. It's not revolutionary, but it's certainly useful. Feast your eyes on the twiddler.

Welcome to Handykey Corporation, makers of the Twiddler(tm). A combination keyboard and mouse that weighs 4 ounces and fits in the palm of your hand. The Twiddler(tm) is an enabling technology of wearable computing.

And for you Palm Pilot enthusiasts, check out the TwiddleHack. With a portable sync cable, a little solder, battery case, and a couple watch batteries, you've got yourself a one-handed keyboard for your Pilot!

Sounds like the Twiddler.

-LjM

It would make much more sense to use a chording keyboard for an organizer - the Microwriter AgendA supported this a long time ago, but has unfortunately been discontinued. (BTW, I haven't been able to find a description of the AgendA's chording scheme - does anyone have a link?)

For a wearable, something like the Twiddler would make much more sense. What I would really like is an updated twiddler that plugs directly into the PS/2 (or USB) port, and with a Trackpoint (like in IBM Thinkpad laptops) instead of the imprecise tilting mouse sensor.

Here I have a whole bunch of links to further information about wearable computers and "enhanced reality" for anyone interested:

• A Brief History Of Wearable Computing
• Affective Computing
• BBC News: Japan Eyes Wearable PC
• Charmed Technology
• CNET.com: 10 Technologies That Will Take Over - #8
• CNN: Excuse Me, Is That A Monitor On Your Head?
• CNN: MIT 'Cyborgs' Bridge Gap Between Man And Machine
• CNN: Turn On, Jack In, And Geek Out With Wearable PC
• CNN: Wearable Systems May Cut Labor, Save Time
• CNN: Xybernaut Now Has Linux For Wearable PCs
• CNN Poll: Do You Want A Wearable Computer?
• Computer For The 21st Century, The
• ComputerWorld: Wearable Computers - Digitally Attired
• Context-Aware Computing
• CTHEORY: Body Delirium
• DisplayWear Incorporated
• Extreme Computing
• Handykey, Inc. Wearable Computing Page
• Houston Chronicle: Future Phones Home, The
• ICBorg
• Intelligent Information Filters And Enhanced Reality, by Alexander Chislenko
• ISWC- International Symposium on Wearable Computers
• Marvin Elizondo's Wearable Computing Page
• MicroOptical
• MIT-IDEO Wearables Intro
• NetWork Fusion: Armani, Karan, Xybernaut? 02/01/999
• PBS: Scientific American Frontiers Transcripts - Inventing The Future (Aired Fall 1996)
• PC World News: Wearable PC To Debut At Comdex
• PopSci.com Headlines: CyberFashions
• Slashdot Articles: Wearable PCs Under Linux
• Smart Rooms
• TechWearable
• TekGear
• Wearable Computer
• Wearable Computing Intro Page
• Wearable Computing Portal
• Wearable Computing Resource Page
• WearableGear.com
• Wearables Central
• Wearables WebCrawler Search Engine
• Wearables Webring
• WearableTech Corp.
• Wired News: Annotated Reality
• Wired News: Intel Chips In On Future Devices
• Wired News: Waiting For Wearable Wearables
• Wraith Projects
• Xybernaut

Impossible means no one's done it yet.

There already is a one-handed input device called the Twiddler by Handykey. Haven't tried it myself but I hear its great once you get used to it and its especially popular among people that build wearable computers

The "embedded screen in glasses" are built by MicroOptical and are currently unavailable to the general public. Development was funded by DARPA and they are still being developed. There are various clip on and other borg-like things, but you wouldn't want to wear them to Easter dinner.

The keyboard most wearable computing folks use is called the Twiddler. Don't know about power generation. You'd have to type a lot to generate enough for wireless IP PLUS hard drive PLUS "additional storage". I guess you did say a 9 volt battery. I'd be interested to see your power budget.

You should look at the StrongARM chip. Unless you want to run Windows, there's no need for x86 compatibility. Might as well go right for the lower-power ARM if you're running Linux.

Anyway, I think if this were possible, the folks at MIT's Wearable Computing Group would have done it already.

Don't let me discourage you, however. Good luck and let us know when you have something. I'll shell out the $, that's for sure.

I have the Twiddler. I recommend it for anyone who wants a mobile keyboard. You should be able to get 60 wpm out of it and once you build up, you don't notice the strain on your fingers.

Unfortunately, it has a learning curve and I haven't had time to get proficient. It also has the current drawbacks of requiring special drivers, and it uses the serial port instead of the keyboard port.

"Real Soon Now" HandyKey is supposed to come out with the Twiddler 2, which will connect to and use for I/O the keyboard and mouse ports.

You'll still have the learning curve, but at least you won't have to deal with the bad existing Linux drivers out there.

Andrew Mossberg
Inicom, Inc.

Don't know how much mobile work you do, but you might want to try out Handykey's Twiddler...

Eventually, they're supposed to be releasing their "Twiddler 2", which should have a proper AT/PS-2 interface. The Twiddler only uses the keyboard port as a power source; the serial interface is what carries actual data.

Don't know how much mobile work you do, but you might want to try out Handykey's Twiddler...

Eventually, they're supposed to be releasing their "Twiddler 2", which should have a proper AT/PS-2 interface. The Twiddler only uses the keyboard port as a power source; the serial interface is what carries actual data.

Haven't we had this discussion exactly one year ago? That you posted?

Well, there's always Dvorak, though the benefits of that are up in the air. (My inciteful comment on that topic (#47) was soundly defeated. (#190) :)

I'm not certain that it would help, but you could get a big keyboard and feel like the world's tiniest geek.

And there's those cool one-handed keyboards. Again, I don't know if it would help, but you could use two of 'em and multi-task fiercely.

Of course, the all-thumb keyboard. It's essentially ASL, but while wearing a glove. This one is my personal favourite. Probably not as good for coding (there's a convenience, or at least a learned one, to the location of the squiggly brackets, carets, parenthesis, etc.)

Oh, and programs like ViaVoice. Those are more and more highly rated. Again, probably not good for coding, but a hell of a start. Perhaps that combined with another keyboard, like a chording one, might do ya' right.

To name a mouse from the keyboard side, has anyone used the Twiddler, at http://www.handykey.com/?

I drooled over the web pages a while back when I was thinking about getting an exercise bike (spot the geek!), but since I'm using a lot of different platforms right now, and don't have time to exercise, I'm trying to be patient until I don't have to build cables for some of them. The idea of having an inertial mouse sounds great, though I doubt it has the built in scroll function a la the wheel mouse (strangely addictive, that little wheel).

Basically, if you're holding the twiddler in your hand and point your index finger at the screen, the mouse pointer should follow what you point at. You don't have to do this; you can also just let your hand hang at your side and handle the directions relatively without pointing. What I don't know yet is if it's decent for people with small hands, if it fits my work patterns, etc.

Since I find that switching often between mouse and keyboard leads to aching wrists and a certain irritation factor from the context-switching, this sounds like about the perfect product once I either get more time to play or it becomes more commoditized.

Does anyone know of any other chord keyboard/mouse combos like this?

If your hands ache right now, I would suggest curtailing your activities immediately. I'm not doctor, but you seem to be in a prime setup for a repetitive strees injury (RSI). There's plenty of folks like that here at MIT, and it ain't pretty. Hopefully The Twiddler will ameliorate your symptoms ...


*** Proven iconoclast, aspiring epicurean ***

Anybody out there tried the Twiddler? It uses chorded strokes for the keyboard and tilting and whatnot for mouse movement. I'd take one just to try it out...

• Power Consumption
• 
  This is one of the areas that a lot of progress has been made in. IBM's wearable gets three hours of battery life. Thad's wearable gets fifteen. Know what else? He never has his hard drives spin down or his display turn off. He accomplishes this amazing feat by using extremely low power hardware; his wearable is composed of PC-104 boards. You can find more information about the hardware at MIT's Wearable Computing Project.

• Display
• 
  The biggest obstacle to widespread acceptance of wearable computers, in my opinion, is the display. They are, at the moment, extrememly expensive. Quite a bit of technical progress has been made, however. Kopin makes some tiny displays (unfortunately no wearable designs shown on their page), but the ones we use most in the CCG are the ones made by MicroOptical. This page has a photo of the clip-on glasses display prototype; we've got non-prototype models in use, and let me tell you, they are sweet. They are extremely lightweight, slim, and space-age looking. Of course, they're also about $5000 apiece, but that's why we have grants. =)

• Input
• 
  Input is a bit of a problem. Nobody's developed an intuitive, easy to use input device. The Twiddler is the one most used by wearables researchers at the moment. It's a chording, one-handed keyboard with 12 keys (three rows of four) on the front for the fingers, and five keys for the thumb. It acts as both keyboard and mouse, as it has tilt sensors that let you control the pointer. The Twiddler is neat, and very useful, but it's about as hard to learn as touch-typing. MIT's wearables pages have some info on other input devices buried within them.

• Interface
• 
  This is another potential obstacle to widespread use of wearable computers. Thad runs Linux (Slackware, I belive) on his wearable, and his interface to everything is: XEmacs! Yes, XEmacs, heavily modified to do everything he needs it to. One of the most revolutionary applications it uses is the Remberance Agent (PDF). This watches the files on your drive and what you're typing, and suggests a list of related files every 10 seconds or so. In this way, you can see things that might be related to what you're doing currently. For instance, if I'm typing up an article (such as this one), and I talk about Brad Rhodes, the Remberance Agent might display a filename such as "rhodes-RA.pdf", reminding me that he was the one who wrote the Remberance Agent. Or, if I'd met him at ISWC and put his name in "ISWC99-people.txt", that could come up and remind me as well.

• Size
• 
  Size is one of the least concerning of any of these issues. Technology will progress, and things will get smaller. Eventually, we can expect to have powerful computers that fit in our pockets, or on our wrists (check here for a wrist-sized palm pilot). Size is currently a consideration, but it's the least of them.

I'm worried about this. Three buttons, in all permutations can only create 6 actions, which is just enough for a 2-buttoned mouse.

I wonder if it can handle the Twiddler. Then you wouldn't need a keyboard that they plan to develop for it in the future.
-----------

I'm the first to suggest it, so you all have to obey. Everyone reading this chips in a pound (or dollar, but more than a lira), and you can buy me one of these...

1. Andover Shares. Lots of 'em.
2. Aibo. Actually, two so they can play football.
3. Twiddler
4. World peace
5. A trip to Mars (though I'll settle for Earth orbit)
6. A faster connection to /. It's dog slow today for some reason.
7. A job at nasa. Imagine; there are people out there with the titles of Space Commander and Planetary Protection Officer. I want to be Supreme Commander of the Solar System.
8. There's more, but no-one but my girlfriend will find out what.

Mac graphic artists have been using pens for years with their graphic tablets; I assumed these could be used as mouses as well.
If I use anything other than a mouse, it's going to be a Twiddler. Which is cooler than any mere pen, except possibly one that blows up when you click it three times.

Dvorak is nice, but it solves yesterday's problem.

Wearable computers are coming, and we need an input method that you can use while walking down the street. The Twiddler is just a first-generation example.

We need an input device that can be used in any position (sitting, standing, lying down), and that allows rapid input of not just ASCII, but extended characters (accented letters, etc).

A truly sophisticated input device would make full use of the neuromuscular capabilities of the hand for the highest bandwidth... consider playing the violin, and try to imagine doing it on a keyboard or using a mouse. Perhaps in the future, kids will spend years learning how to use input devices (just like the violin), and will use them to do truly amazing things at very high speed.

Here's the link:

http://www.handykey.com/

I haven't used it myself, but I've heard people rave about it.

Despite my lifestyle I still have two hands, fortunately.

Nevertheless, once I saw this device I seriously was thinking of getting one just for the improved efficiency of input, removing big clunky keyboard, and freeing up one hand for "other important tasks."

Ah yes, that's the boyo. In fact on the comments page, about half way down, some guy from MIT raves about how useful they were for his wearable computer project. He says they can type up to 60 words a minute using this little thing...

There is a device called the Twiddler which looks quite worth
trying in order to avoid CTS. It's a one-handed
keyboard/pointing device that stays fixed to your hand, so you
can position your arm and wrist however you desire (that is
what makes it sound so attractive).

The (almost fanatically religious sounding) Testimonials may
be worth checking out.

The device is really intended for wearable computing applications,
however, according to the testimonials it is great for desktop use as well.

There is a device called the Twiddler which looks quite worth
trying in order to avoid CTS. It's a one-handed
keyboard/pointing device that stays fixed to your hand, so you
can position your arm and wrist however you desire (that is
what makes it sound so attractive).

The (almost fanatically religious sounding) Testimonials may
be worth checking out.

The device is really intended for wearable computing applications,
however, according to the testimonials it is great for desktop use as well.

...you could buy a Twiddler and relax for 40% of the price.
I've rigged the furniture in similar ways back when I played red alert for about twenty hours a day. It fucks your back something awful. A good hard chair is your only man.

check out the the twiddler

I hate to answer as an advertisement, but this time it's the only answer... The device you'r asking for is named a twiddler.

The ubiquitous Anonymous Coward asked me whether I meant something like the Landware keyboards, which I had in fact never heard of before.

Actually, I'd prefer a turn-key solution with a Twiddler. (See the handykey site for more details.

There is a driver available for the Pilot, and wiring instructions on how to make a cable / power-supply for it. So far, both are out of my idiot's grasp of technology. If anyone wants to put together a cable adapter/ battery-power box for these and sell it (with the driver on disc included) for less than 25 bucks, I will take them up on it. One caveat: it should not involved cutting the original cables, because I want to be able to use the Twiddler in both environments.

I don't even have a palm pilot yet, but I would if I could do that with it. I just went on a trip in fact where even my tiny NEC LT 120 laptop would have been too big for my economy-class seat on Delta.

All that aside, these Landware keyboards are a very smart idea, though! I like the integrated cover / angled holder, integrated serial port etc. Only trouble is how small they look. I know some people like the little keyboard, but honestly I hate even the iMac keyboard I'm called upon to use at work, and it's not really *that* little.

timothy

The glove sounds interesting, but moving your thumb to the base of your fingers sounds unnatural. Handykey sounds better right now (I ordered one a while back and should be getting it soon). The twiddlers look awesome to me and I can't wait to get mine.

Wearable researchers, myself included, argue that being able to type with one hand 14 hours a day, wearever you are, and simultaneously with whatever else you do during the day, makes 30 wpm text input blisteringly faster than any desktop input -- even, say, desktop input with speeds well in excess of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 wpm. And Twiddlers can cruise at 60 wpm.

Now, if you could "thumb" without any glove on, just an electronic eye strapped to your wrist, that would be cool. The image of that sort of reminds me of the "hand talking" that was described in Dune.

Still, based on the meagre amount of information I have absorbed on thumbing, I think the twiddler is better, if for no other reason that it has a built in pointer. Now if I could just convince the wife-unit that I need to $200 keyboard for my pilot...

There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself

I find that for pure neato value, the datahand is the coolest keyboard (although the twiddler is also nifty). Since I'm a poor typist, it looks better, since you can't really miss a key (nor, for that matter, can you type improperly, since you have no choice which finger hits which key). Of course, it's also expensive as hell (which is why they don't list the price). It's around $900 for the personal (the Pro II is over $1000).
I think this could be a really neato slashdot topic: badass input devices.

Dvorak may be way better than Qwerty, but both will die soon. Bulky and inconvenient laptops will give way to wearable computers very soon now, and keyboards in general just don't cut it. New technology keyboards like HANDYKEY are the future. Once everybody starts using "walkman" computers, handykey-like devices become necessary, and all keyboards will then be on the way out.

Wow, these economist people are real scientists aren't they? It takes about 2 weeks to learn dvorak. The benefit will be received for the rest of your life. If they pulled their little economic formulas out they might learn something at this point.

The Dvorak keyboard also tends to alternate between left and right because the vowels are on one side and the consonants on the other. If anything Dvorak does a better job here.

The typing records are held on dvorak, and anybody who has given dvorak a go can testify that your hands don't move anywhere near as far leading to less hand strain.

But I'd like to see how the TWIDDLER keyboard does. It might not be faster, but it sure would be relaxing and easy on the hands. I can't wait to try one out.