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Touchscreen Game Controller?
DARTH25 sent us a review of a fairly clever little
USB touchscreen controller. Think of it as a keyboard where you can move the buttons around and dynamically change graphics. And the "buttons" are a 320x240 12 bit LCD screen.
So switching to the railgun involves pressing the railgun icon on the screen. I'm not sure how well I'd like it for action games but for a lot of
games with many options, this could be really cool. Of course, its windows only, but maybe not for long.
Why don't you go outside for a while, you'll be surprised at the high level of "tactile-feedback"
I can see a lot of uses for this other than just for games. Context sensitive menus for other applications would be incredibly cool as well. How about when I open up my SQL application I get buttons that show relevent options?
I touch "insert into" and it shows me a list of tables in the current database.
It could do all of that without having to make everything into a GUI or taking away the ability to use the keyboard as well.
I'm not much of a gamer, but I think this would be incredibly cool to get my hands on.
-- Zack
This will not work for most games. Gamers need to keep their eyes on the screen.. no gamer I know ever looks at their controller.
When you have your hands on a traditional controller, the bumpy buttons let you know your hands are in the correct position. You know when you press down, you will hit the right button. Accuracy is everything. With this, you can try to keep your hands in the same position, but the only way to know for sure is to make a mistake or look down. Forget it.
As an example, how often do you start typing with your hands one key to the left or right? You didn't even look at they keyboard, you used the bumpy keys to position your hands.
This looks like a great place to stick toolbars from the gimp, blender, etc... It would be great for getting the clutter off of your main screen and let you fill most of your screen with the actual image. Of course at $250 a pop, you might just want to invest in a bigger monitor.
This could be used for all sorts of things though. You might even program your windowmanager to stick your root menu on the thing so you don't have to find an open spot on your desktop (or have to reach for the F12 key).
Strangely they are marketing this towards games where speed is of the essence. I don't know about you, but averting my eyes from the screen to press a touchpad with no tactile feedback doesn't seem like the way to speed up my game. How long does it take for your finger to learn the position of the "build peon" key anyway?
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.
I read the internet for the articles.
When you want to see human/machine interfaces designed for real-world high-stress environments, you go look at the military - the contols on fighter aircraft and tanks.
A frag hurts a lot more in real life.
What you'll find is that any control that has a combat function - things like vehicle manoevering, weapons selection, and triggers - are one-button-per-function, tactile-feedback items. Controls for communications and information systems tend to be placed on multi-use displays with changing menus - sometimes iconic, but mostly text.
This little gadget sounds like the latter, not the former. Good for keys and functions not heavily used, but not suitable for rapid action games like Quake and friends.
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
Absolutely - I remember making a similar suggestion on an mp3-hi-fi list using an old palm Pilot - but this is much cooler.
Hopefully it isn't used to tap locations for shoot. Then we have reduced first person shooters to "Whack a Mole".
PalmAMP from Ironcreek Software (looks like their site is goobered, but you can find the download by Googling still) and the PalmAMP XMMS plugin should do at least a big chunk of what you're trying to do. The XMMS plugin is GPL as well, so you can perhaps turn your FIFO daemon into a converter for the PalmAMP protocol, thus saving the time of writing the GUI.
This will be the 'alternate' input device, where you can use your mouse, your keyboard or put all your grubby little paws over your screen and get nice little oil prints everywhere ... totally cool..
I don't want a lot, I just want it all!
Flame away, I have a hose!
Only 'flamers' flame!
Accompanied by, in the words of my brother, "AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Dragon-punch, dammit! I Dragon-punched you!"
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Of course, its windows only, but maybe not for long.
Just like your scanner, right?
:)
I'm still using an old IBM PS/2 Keyboard. Its huge, weighs a ton, and has absolutely the best key action I have ever felt. And it makes a lovely *CLICK* every time you press down on a key. And you have to PRESS down on the keys, as the keyboard is stiff. I love this thing, and would be hard pressed to do without it.
"No more one handed game play" - I don't think any new device could prevent "one handed game play" if you know what I mean.... Jeez, talk about "lcd smear"...
S.t.e.v.e.
Pseudo-tactile feedback can be achieved with sounds effects and just getting used to the layout. Same thing applies to pretty much every other controller out there.
In addition, you don't (I would not / do not) put time-critical functions on it; those are for your joystick/spaceorb/mouse/trackball/etc where your hand usually stays during melee combat.
I have an advanced form of this: I have a 15" LCD touchscreen computer that is designed to do exactly the same thing. I use a spaceball/trackball combo with the TSC just below the front of my screen and my keyboard below that. I can program the TSC to provide a template with all the menus/controls I need to play a particular game. Primarily, I put non-combat functions on the TSC (like the inventory loadouts and the (V)oice actions in Tribes 2). Switching weapons, firing, throwing grenades, jumping, jetting, etc are on my spaceball/trackball. Pretty soon I will be adding a set of foot switches as well (might as well get the rest of my limbs in on the action); I'll probably assign jumping, jetting, running, etc to those.
-SS "Teach the ignorant, care for the dumb, and punish the stupid."
I almost didn't follow that link because it looked like a certain other URL that I'd rather not click on.
--
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
Funny... I never heard anybody on Star Trek: the Next Generation complain about this.
"Dammit, why did they put the 'Console Self-Destruct' button so frickin' close to the 'Raise Shields' button?"
I can definitely see how it would be useful while beating my monkey in Black & White,
Dude, upgrade to a color monitor already, it's way more realis...
Oh. Wait. You meant the game...
Err, nevermind.
Well, it works for FPS games for a while, at least... I bought it and used it quite frequently for Q2/Q3 play, and after a weekend of practice, became very, very good at using it for movement and various other functions.
:(
However, when I went to use it with SC3K a couple months ago (after having the thing for maybe 6 months), I found the sensors for rotation were broken. And I never even got to play a game where I could make use of them.
Oh well, I still use it for most of my gaming. 24 hotkeys for Diablo II at my fingertips - I don't even have them all programmed (I still have 2 free slots). Has to be 10 times easier then dealing with the keyboard.
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"You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
I like the idea of a "configureable" controller, but I want something more tactile than a flat screen.
I know where the A and B buttons are located on my mouse and joystick, not by sight, but by sense of touch. There is a clear, tactile line that seperates them, either by raising or lowering the sides, or by differing textures. An LCD panel won't do that, so I have to LOOK at the controller to figure out where the buttons are, each time I pick it up after drinking / petting the dog / taking a wizz. blech.
I also have the problem of lazy fingers that refuse to interpret visual information. That means that they can't read the controller and, as they are prone to fidgeting between turns, I will lose a lot of game play repeatedly dedicating 0.00000001 second each turn to visually confirming the layout.
That's true... And when the fuel gauge is very low, you can tap on it to make sure that it's working
USB touchpad: $300
Begin to see a reason why this is a bad idea?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
USB touchpad: $300
Pointy-Haired Boss authorizing the $300 because he likes the "USB" buzzword: Priceless.
-Legion
Wonder if you can get carpel tunnel from touching your screen too often...
Hell, I know people who probably developed carpal tunnel syndrome from touching themselves too often....
Might be a nice, cheap input controller for my car MP3 player. That's a lot of UI functionality for $250-$300, compared to what you pay for off-the-shelf automotive display solutions.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
Alright, I've been looking for something like this for years. At the moment even a simple B&W LCD touch screen is $400-$500. According to their site they are developing Linux drivers. I'm sure with Linux Comunity help they oculd be brought to market quickly.
Home Theater Control
Server Information and Automation
I remember, back in the days of C64, when many games (yay MicroProse!) came with full-blown keyboard overlays. Ahhh MicroProse. The good old days of a 2 floppy game coming with a 200 page manual to help put you in the mood. Sid Meier, if on the off chance you're reading this, when you're done with Civ 3, WE WANT COVERT ACTION 2!
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Of course, this kind of innovation never seems to be exploited to its full potential. In spite of my 'wait-and-see' attitude, I really like the possibilities.
These people looked deep into my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
Has anyone ever thought about applying this concept to a Visor or a Palm Pilot while it is cradled? You would have a touch sensitive (Sort of) changable screen, and a lot of people would already have the hardware.
Well, the point is that this is for sims and stuff, where its less that you can't hit the key fast enough more that you can't remember wtf its bound to. Like tilde for reverse gear, y for select next target, that sort of thing. b for shutdown. Stuff that some designer idiot though you really need to memorize, and they have that one stupid card control list that everyone loses.
gotapex.com
For *just a second* I thought, "Wow, the trolls actually got a story posted with that goatsex URL."
If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
Yeah, but having fingerprints on your windshield sucks ass.
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Herm....I think the easiest thing would be to have several game pads and several different hands. Several heads would also help so you could independently deal with each hand....
:)
/. I haven't posted in over a month. :( This also means that my .sig is outdated because I haven't really updated my site since may.
Actually, I had a concept a while ago about a multiple player game with all the players controlling one person, but just different aspects of the person. One person could deal with inventory, and another with strength etc...there could be struggles between the different parts of the person, which would make it slightly competitive between the players playing the game. This probably makes no sense to anyone else, but it makes perfect sense in my brain.
ps- working at Camp Susque really takes time away from cruising
The anti-salmon
Not knowing much about electronics, how expensive would it be to have a standard keyboard with little (7mm x 7mm) LCD or LED displays on each key? I did a quick search through Radio Shack's web site but they seemed to be limited to those little numeric LED displays that only have 7 lights.
I could see a lot of uses; allow someone to switch back and forth between Dvorak/Qwerty or between some bastard combination (e.g. I just chopped off my left hand, oops, let's put all of the most common keys in the RH home row.) Or, how about a custom C++ keyboad with ';', '{' and '}' in the homerow? Imagine how much stress you'd save with the braces placed where the 'g' and 'h' keys are.
Anyway, enough musing. The only way it would be useful is if keyboard had a way to show the current keyboard settings. So back to my origional question. Is this technically feasible?
P.S. I was going to patent the idea ;), but I'd really be just as happy if someone else would develop it and let me buy one.
P.P.S. I realize the cheap option is to buy a cheap keyboard and paint over the letters...
Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
But as everything new its always expensive and cool. If it is a good idea price will go down and quality will improve. I wouldn't be surprised to see such keyboards in the future. It sure gives the "keymap" a new dimension. Just toggle the symbols of the keys whenever you use another keymap.
Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.
Aristotele
This would rock for controlling your mp3 box in the trunk of the car....
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
--Ambrose Bierce
Keeping
I believe in custom controls, where you could place the controls on the touch-screen however you want, but I'm sure that too many games would break the useability by changing the controls too much throughout the game.
Keeping
Stagnated? That doesn't quite explain the evolution of computer keyboards. The fact is, computer keyboards used to be better. Buckling spring IBM keyboards from the early 80's still work as new. In the last 8 years or so, computer keyboards have turned from $50-$150 investments into $8 throwaway items, with the consequent loss of quality and durability. Maybe if everyone's P4 or Athlon computer came with a quality keyboard like the old Northgates and IBMs, people wouldn't be looking so hard for better input devices.
How great would this would this be for flight sims? You could have the whole instrument panel out in front of you...
Personally, I think the coolest use would be to have a terminal open at all times so I could always have it at my disposal.
--The space between my ears was intentionally left blank--
So, everyone knows that it doesn't help to press buttons hartder cuz you won't shoot any faster, but that never stops anyone. I wonder how many units with cracked LCDs will get shipped back to the manufacturer...
Perhaps a warning on the box... Not intended for easily excitable players. Risk of severe thumb abrasions from sharp shards of plastic.
--CTH
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--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
I had one of the first generations of these, and loved it loved it loved it. 35 programmable keys (they were the little bubble-wrap type deals, which had some of the tactile feedback everybody's talking about), each key could be programmed for up to 4 functions using a simple latched-shift system... It even had a gamepad-style 8-way hat.
One of the truly nifty features was that it didn't require a driver to be installed - it perfectly emulated a keyboard, repeat rates and all. Configurations could be programmed in via a driver, but for folks who wanted to take their PC Dash around, there was a very cool barcode scanner built in. When you printed out a layout to cover the buttons with, a barcode would go on the page. Plug the dash in, swipe the barcode, and you were off.
The PC Dash 2 is not quite as cool, and I think it took a step backward, but it was USB... the first gen used a PS/2 passthrough. Still, I have very fond memories.
Yea verily, Saitek doth make some of the swiftiest peripherals on the planet. The X-36 throttle is possibly the perfect interface for flight games.
Meanwhile...
Since the Touchscreen can display new screens for each game automatically, I suggest taking it a step further and make it totally dynamic throughout the application. Instead of one screen that stays static for the entire game (requiring you to either make tiny little icons to cover the retinue of commands, or forego commands in favor of bigger icons), give the option for the user to create drill-down style menus which temporarily replace unrelated controls. Press the Inventory button, all the related inventory controls pop up. Press the Weapons button... well, you get the idea. This wouldn't be much good in fast-paced games, but for those of us who prefer our games a little slower-paced, it would truly rock. For the folks who are thinking of dynamic LCARS control panels, there you have it.
Tatsujin
Visit Unclebear.com for all your roleplaying needs that don't involve leather.
How about touch-sensitive HUDs on Windshields? It wouldn't require averting the eyes.
The first thing I thought of is Star Trek, and that Sci-Fi commercial with someone sliding a uh slider across the screen with their finger.
Someone who is disabled could use this to put the keys where they need them. Maybe they can't use the current keyboard since the buttons are too close together.
Would there be 'screen' savers for this device? Could I use xlock? The screensaver cycles through different languages/character sets and no one has a clue what to hit?
Of course i'd like to pipe X onto it and keep my root console/x session there so I can change stuff really really on the fly.
Get your Unix fortune now!
If you're really looking for a cheaper "do-all" controller check out the MS Strategic Commander. It's pitched as a controller for "strategic" games, but I use it for FPS games too...its nice to be able to move, jump and change weapons at the same time without double-jointed fingers.
I wish I had more hands so I could give this post 4 thumbs down!
And btw, I much prefer the switches and dials and blinking lights and levers from Star Wars as opposed to the sleek touchscreen controls of Star Trek.
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$ chown -R us:us yourbase
2) The biggest problem with LCD touchpads (this one included) is the absolute lack of tactile feedback. To know which button you are about to press (and to make sure you only hit one) you have to look at the controler. That is time that you spend not looking at the action on the computer screen. Bad idea in a firefight.
The concept is cool though...
Everyone's trying to revamp computer input. From the weird slidy-disks from a while back to the vertical keyboards with the keys on the side. It's quite a barrier to entry, more than most other computer technologies. No matter what kind of computer you're using, chances are you type on a spring-actioned QWERTY keyboard. Perhaps some improvement is needed, because it's a technology that's stagnated in the past few years, but someone's going to have to come up with something damned snazzy before they really start to catch attention. Not to mention the fact that most of these new devices can cost up to hundreds of dollars, where you can get a workable keyboard for $30 at Best Buy... Jeffrey
Forget games... combine this with this and porn will never be the same.
I can definitely see how it would be useful while beating my monkey in Black & White, and I'd love to try it out in a old fashioned Total Annihilation throwdown...but it seems a bit pricey for a gaming peripheral. And if you wanted a device that held website links you could get one of those fancy mousepads with the shortcut buttons for free. (Even that is just a novelty, as I got bored of it after a couple days and hucked it at the nearest stop sign.)
Good idea for a nifty gadget, but way too expensive.
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"I strongly urge both the faint of heart and the faint of butt to leave the room at this time."
- Strong Bad
mmmmm third hand
Amen, brother.
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"I strongly urge both the faint of heart and the faint of butt to leave the room at this time."
- Strong Bad