Slashdot Mirror
Review of Hands Free Mouse
SLDave wrote in to
plug his review of
NaturalPoint's hands free mouse that
covered by Slashdot some time ago.
It seems to work as advertised, using a camera to track your head and replace
your mouse, but with a lot of caveats. Definitely worth a look for us truly
lazy folks.
On second thought, better not to think about that.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Tell me this thing is not made in India and part of a plot to take over the world.
.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
This being Slashdot, I'm wondering whether the subject means "Review of a hands-free mouse" or "Review of Hand's free mouse".
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Wouldn't it make more sense to track your eye movements, if I could *look* at the link on a page (lets say hold it in focus for one second) and follow the link life would be great. There is some technolgy that allows tracking of eye movement - I've seen it used to research how the human brain "reads" a page of text (by scanning all over it quickly).
Without the ability to click handsfree, this thing is utterly worthless.
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
Check it out :)
As always, humor included
So here's the text of the article.
Introduction
Didn't you ever wish that you could just sit back and browse the web like it's made to be done? Didn't you just want to lie back and make your eyes do the talking and clicking for you? Well then, if you're like me, you will be looking for everything possible to make your time on the computer and on the internet, much more efficient and easier. As an American, I like doing things the easiest way possible. People have dreamed for a long time for something to make using the computer easier. When the mouse came along, that was a godsend and people were gracing it as the ultimate usability tool for the computer but now that we've progressed through high stages of computing, the mouse has remained relatively the same except for some laser technology. In comes the NaturalPoint TrackIR, which is a tool which supplements "not replaces" your mouse with something much better... your forehead. The concept is so simple that it's almost a crime to market and sell it off when most of us has been dreaming of things like this for years but to give credit where credit is due, NaturalPoint took it upon themselves to actually take the time to developing something like this and market it.
Here's how it works, the TrackIR has 2 basic parts that make it work. The first is a camera that mounts on the top of your computer and second part is silver dots which you stick on your forehead, hat, etc... that catch the attention of the camera so that the cursor moves along to the movements your head makes. The dots have a cloth backing so you can stick it and remove it many times. The camera is sensitive enough to detect the silver dots and it will only detect those dots and calculate how it moves and translate it to cursor movements. So when the dots are on your head and you move your head left, the camera sees the dot moving to the left and therefore the cursor moves left. Actually, this isn't really a camera because all it can basically make out from everything else is the silver dots; it will not do anything like take pictures of your friends or of the city. The camera sends out infrared signals and the silver dots bounce the signals back to the TrackIR. The camera is connected to the desktop or laptop through USB. The cable is pretty short (good for laptops) and therefore it comes with a 4 foot long USB cable extension. Also, it has extra rubber pads for use with laptops. A good feature of this is that the device is powered by the USB port and therefore doesn't require any external power.
The device comes in three flavors: the "standard" which has the camera, cord, software, and the dots...the "EG" (ergonomics) which has a clear case camera, two finger rings, and a breakout cable, this is meant to fully replace your mouse... and finally, the "AT" (assisted technology) model which helps out disabled people with special software. What I will be reviewing today will be the standard model.
Installation
When getting ready to install the device, you will see many, many notices in the packaging telling you to install the software before installing the hardware and this is a very important factor in getting this to work properly. I would've gone and tested what would happen if I installed the hardware first but I don't think that I would like to have taken that risk. After installing the software, you will need to reboot, then connect the hardware to the computer. The camera was meant to sit on a monitor or something pretty high up and level to your head or wherever you wish to place the dots. The camera has a metal base which can be bent to stabilize itself on any surface: monitor edges, desk edges, etc...The camera has a roughly 25 degree field of view which is quite adequate because it will most likely be positioned in front of you. Installation was fairly simple and straightforward, just like many USB webcams and devices. Of course here comes the tricky part or so it seemed: the software.
System Specs
AMD Athlon 1.2GHz
Soyo Dragon +
256MB Crucial PC2100DDR
MSI GeForce2 Pro
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Maxtor D740X 60GB Hard Drive
Plextor 12/10/32A IDE CD-RW
Pioneer 16X DVD-ROM
Microsoft WindowsXP
Software
The TrackIR doesn't work at all without the software running because it is not a native windows device like a mouse or a keyboard but making the software run on start-up isn't a big hassle. You'll know when the device is on and working when you see the green light on the top of the camera turns on. The software works with everything in the system and is basically like one of the apps everyone used to have that would move your mouse around a bit every couple of seconds to fool the AllAdvantage program. When you move the real mouse, it would disable the TrackIR program until the mouse stops moving. The software itself reminds me of the mouse control panel in Windows, it lets you control cursor speed, sensitivity, smoothness, etc...Smoothness is unique, when you set it to maximum smoothness, you get a very fluid movement from the cursor but also it seems to lag a bit...I like it because your head can be shaking quite a bit and the cursor would be steady, sort of like the Sony Handycam's Steadyshot. In constrast, minimum smoothness results in jerky and jittery movements of the cursor. Other functions include a double speed function in which the cursor moves at double the speed. Also, the gravity function lets you hit the hard to hit targets of the close, minimize, maximize, etc...buttons, they snap to a button when the cursor gets close to it so you can easily get the cursor close to the close button and the software automatically positions the cursor over the close button, where it thinks you intended to put it.
The "Game Mode" function overrides the game's mouse controls so the TrackIR can be used for games. But in games, I found that precision and speed is lacking compared to a mouse and it would pretty difficult to be a champion while using the TrackIR as a game controller. These comments are for FPS and RTS games but for flight simulations, I've come to the conclusions from many reports that this is a good choice because of the ability for you to view out of the cockpit with the TrackIR and how it's a less point and click dependant genre than FPS or RTS.
At this point you might be wondering how you click the mouse, both left and right click can't be done with your eyes blinking, I'm sorry but I don't think that function will ever be implemented, unless you would like to stick a few silver dots on your eyelids. Clicking is done through pressing designated keys on the keyboard, so you can have an almost hands free experience, notice the keyword being "almost".
Common Usage
What can I say about this device in terms of things I normally do such as browsing the web and checking email? The TrackIR can easily move the cursor as well as a mouse can and it's much easier moving your head than it is moving a mouse so I cant argue with it's ease and laziness factor. The only major problem that I think people will hit is that it takes time getting used to it. It takes time to adjust to the speed you move your head, the angles of visibility, and the range, and if you play games, those too. Also, the TrackIR catches onto many things that are bright...not just the silver dots. If you have a silver ring, there's a good chance it'll see that as a dot and track according to that. The bottom line is that you probably wont save any time by using the TrackIR but it's a good break from the standard mouse and also adds just a little bit to the human laziness factor.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Works like advertised
Makes life a bit easier
Comes with many replacement dots
Cons
Lack of precision
Wearing something that has silver dots on it
Other shiny objects can throw off the camera
Conclusion
I'll give it to you, it's pretty cool to say that all you have to do to use your computer is look at the screen and move your head around a bit but considering everything up to this point, is it worth it? It would be if you could get 100% used to using the TrackIR but it's harder than it seems but the sensitivity and speed options do help. NaturalPoint has done a good job programming the software so that it makes the user have an easier time getting adjusted to the TrackIR. Once properly modified, the TrackIR can be one cool toy but it probably will not be put out for mainstream use or adopted by any OEM's because overally, it will take longer to do things with the TrackIR then it will with a simple mouse. If you're into cool toys that have functionality, give this a try but don't rely on it outside of simple tasks, such as deathmatches.
SLRating: 7/10
Shockwave Flash movies are the greatest thing to happen to non-sequitur humor since Japan.
So my question is how does it work if yoiu are wearing glasses ?
:)
How does it handel background noise (ppl walking past ect ?
de review doesnt seem to mention much of this
I dout this would be usefull for anything except for handsfree porn surfing.
Oh wait a minute euhh where can i order one
42
Yup, already gone. To wit:
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;^)
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To add insult to injury, we have beome what we hate most:
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This guy's getting the "Slashdot-SPAMed-my-Mailbox-to-Death" effect, I would imagine. Stop SPAM! Read the karma whore's version here!
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
Silver dots?!?
I'm already the geek of my neighborhood, but if I forget to take those things off I'll never hear the end of it I'm sure.
I'll pass since it isn't as precise as a mouse but I'm really taken by the concept. Especially if I can play CounterStrike or UnReal Tourney with it.
There is nothing inherently safe about liberty. That's why so many people died protecting it.
It's been an interesting switch, and I most certainly find some advantage in the footpedal. My hands leave home row significantly less than the average typist. I believe this could make me a faster typist overall given some more time.
I also jump in Quake with my big toe now.
Mirror
kawai
SLDave wrote in to request his database be slashdotted.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
Interesting stuff, but this seems pretty primitive. From a human interface point of view, I can't help feel that having to keep moving your head to move the pointer is going to cause neck strain, especially for tasks that involve a lot of "mousing".
A few years ago, there were some consumer cameras which used a laser to detect where you were looking the viewfinder, and then focussed on that area. Something like that seems to have a lot more potential, and would make the suggested "blink to click" metaphor much easier to implement as well...
whoohoo! slashdoted, but not only the webserver, but i guess also their smtp mail server. go slashdot, go!!!
> There seems to have been a slight problem with the database.
> Please try again by pressing the refresh button in your browser.
> An E-Mail has been dispatched to our Technical Staff, who you can also contact if the problem persists.
What I mean to say is that your head doesn't move in a purely horizontal (or vertical) fashion; rather, it swivels atop your neck. So as one nears the extremes -- trying to move the cursor to the right screen edge, for instance -- there would be less purely horizontal motion for the camera to detect, since the silver dot is describing a curve.
Maybethe product compensates for this at the edges? Or detects depth? I don't know, but I'd be interested in finding out.
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---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
Clown just slashdotted HIMSELF. How ballsy is that? =)
____________________________
What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?
"Make me one with everything."
Your head will get tired, your eye's won't. Check out this link and look at their tool.
Back in the day, a Nevada company called Stride made a microcomputer with a head-mounted input device called "the Nod". ISTR that the computer was a 68K system and that Jerry Pournell of _Byte_ was enamored by the thing.
How hard would it be to figure out (given a fair training cycle) the orientation of a users head?
The human head isn't THAT iregular of a shape(ok some people).
couldn't you also track the movement of key color groupings as the head moves?
This seems cool but:
1) how do you click the mouse? (it would be cool to do it by blinking one eye or the other)
2) I am not sticking a dot to my head. I can barely remember to take my head phones off before I leave my desk (CHOKE!!) I dread the idea of going all afternoon not remembering to take that stupid dot off.
I would rather be ashes than dust!
Instead of the silver dots to use it, I want to put 4 General's stars on my forehead like that guy on The Young Ones (Adrian Edmundson?)
Interesting idea for an alternate pointing device, but do you really want to point your forehead where you want to mouse? I dunno about you all but this sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, whiplash anyone?
Also, do use geeks really need to make this sort of fashion statement? Some kind of Silicon Valley, "I'm married to my tech-obsession" thing, ala Hindu tradition.
All levity aside, I see how this device could help people, such as paraplegics. Although, I'm thinking that the related technology many of us are more interested in is the ability to mouse with eye movement, as I believe the US Air Force already uses with considerable sophistication, or even better, pointing/typing through brain waves.
I've got 'em. They *really, really* hurt.
http://www.dansdata.com/trackir.htm
And im combination with force-feedback, you can actually get injured next time you roll in NASCAR...
I don't know about the rest of you, but I work an awful lot of the time with headphones on, and my head bobs to the beat pretty much nonstop... I hope the system is smart enough not to scroll up, scroll down, scroll up, scroll down, scroll up...
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
As an American, I like doing things the easiest way possible.
Finally, a mouse that appeals to my sense of patriotism!
Perhaps we can assume from this quote, that the company also supports the US policy of mucking around in the middle east so we can keep driving our SUVs. Because, as americans, this is easier for us than mass transit or alternative power.
Be lazy! Anything else would be unamerican!
Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
Gorilla Neck?
Now I can get carpal neck, as well...
These comments and opinions are mine and mine alone, although they shouldn't be.
Why?!?!
People have tried to make "button-less keyboards" and mice before, and they don't work, because pushing a button, or a mouse is actually easier than moving nothing.
Try this. Hold your hands apart, and as fast as you can, move one to the other. Try to get very close, but don't hit them. When you stop your hands, do it abruptly, without slowing down. Repeat.
Now try it with your hand on something smooth, sliding on a desk. (like a mouse). This simulates the action of moving a mouse cursor to a target on screen.
While this device is used for the head, not hands, the principle is the same. Resistance may make the quantity of a motion harder, it does make control easier.
Humans have been manipulating things with their hands for ages. That is what they are for. Why should we go against nature?
-twb
If anyone here has worked in heavy manfg. or industry where you need to use a computer on the shop floor or at a workstation on a shop floor you'll know how quickly a mouse will die, I can see a thousand diffrent applications besides the use for "lazy people".
Om, nomnomnom...
Funny you should mention it, as I'm waiting for a thought-controlled wearable pc with 802.11.. pair it up with X10 for lights/appliances and IR converters, and now just thinking about changing the channel on your tv will make it happen! You'll send email by thinking it out, and hearing it read to you by festival in an earphone. You'll get small stimuli to indicate when your Internet connection goes up and down. Of course in the early versions, I can see having to snap wires onto the back of my head like the cochlear implants (or are they magnetized?)
Check it out.
Intelligent Life on Earth
This may be a usable tool in a simple, single-monitor configuration. What happens when a user has multiple PCs?
For example, my ideal work environment is one where I've got (at least) 3 PCs; each having its own monitor. The left-most system is where I do my coding and debugging. The middle system is where I run the application exactly as if I were a user (i.e. QA). The right-most system is where I run analysis tools on the output, log files, etc. (It may seem extravagent, but I've never seen a DESK with a 17-inch diagonal -- more/bigger monitors give me a larger "desk" on which to work.)
How in the world could I use this head-tracking mouse on such a setup? From what I read in the article the head-tracking system can become confused when there are other shiny things in its field of view (e.g. silver rings; I'd hate to imagine what dangling earrings would do!).
I'd need a head-tracking receiver for each PC and monitor, and I've only got one head ;^) So, as I'm working away on the middle PC, these receivers on the other PCs are going to be reading my head motions and mousing all over the place! Okay, so I'd need to use the keyboard to actually "click" on anything, so that's not a problem, right?
Wrong! With all the tool-tips, ONMOUSEOVER, ONMOUSEOUT, etc. that we've got these days, I can easily imagine this scenario:
By the end of the day, I'm going to have one very sore neck, a splitting headache, and accomplished nothing more than making a lot of things flash before my eyes. Sounds like all the benefits of a hangover with out the pleasure of getting drunk. :(
On the other hand, should these become popular, just think of all the fun you could have with your co-workers on April Fool's Day!
To quote:
Here's how it works, the TrackIR has 2 basic parts that make it work. The first is a camera that mounts on the top of your computer and second part is silver dots which you stick on your forehead... The camera sends out infrared signals and the silver dots bounce the signals back to the TrackIR.
Notwithstanding the fact that you're glueing felt dots to your head, you are actually intentionally aiming an infrared transmitter at your cranium! With the talk about cel phones and tumours going about today this one's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Whoever dreamed this up must have spent a few too many hours "beta" testing.
Next thing you know they'll announce a power amplifier that lets you control the mouse from over a mile away and keeps your head toasty warm in a snowstorm...
A computer directly controlled by the human mind will give new meaning to the term Garbage In, Garbage Out. Computers will instantly regress to the days of the Vic20 and your PC will display nothing but porn.
For over $100 I get something that has poor tracking, only works in bloody windows and makes me look like more of a dork than a segway scooter would? Yeh, I think I'll stick with my Logitech wireless for a while.
sic transit gloria mundi
Concern 10: If only it worked in Linux, Mac OS, windows 3.0, etc.
Reply : Several members of our development community are working on linux drivers. And if we sense a lot of interest in a certain platform (like the macintosh OS. nudge nudge), we'll go ahead and crank out drivers for it.
Cheers,
-j.