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Help For Those With Shaky Hands
maotx writes "IBM has developed an adjustible mouse adapter that compensates for the shakes of patients with hand tumors and other causes of uncontrollable shaking. According to the International Essential Tremor Foundation, in the US alone nearly 10 million people are affected by essential tremor, the most common form of hand tremors. This adapter will plug in between the mouse and computer and is compatible with existing mice. No word on which port is supported (ps/2, usb, etc). More info here, here, and here. It is expected that IBM will sell the adapter for under $100 USD."
It is about time that somebody entered this market. I suppose that because age is a risk factor for essential tremor, the need for such a device is only going to increase given the age group that has now become completely dependent upon computers. Most folks I have known with essential tremor (and patients of mine when I was in the clinical side of things) were old enough that they did not routinely use computers. For those that did, keyboarding did not prove as much a problem as using the mouse which requires fine motor skills that often enhance the tremors. Trackballs helped these folks a bit more, but I really would like to see how these compensatory mice work for these patients.
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or you could get a really cheap mouse that isn't sensitive enough to jitter.
Not sure why I bother submitting corrections anymore to articles in "The mysterious future", but TFA is clearly talking about hand tremor, not "hand tumors".
Dddooo thhey haavvee oonee ffor kkey bbboarrds??.aslk /Yes I'm going to hell
Now I can surf pr0n while I've got the DT's.
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According to the International Essential Tremor Foundation, in the US alone nearly 10 million people are affected by essential tremor, the most common form of hand tremors.
Yeah....from using a mouse all day.
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You'd think you'd be able to smooth out mouse input in software. I admit, the platform independant aspect is nice, but still...
I wonder what kind of filtering they do for "inadvertant clicks"? Clicks associated with mouse movement? Triple clicks?
It's just a hardware adapter, it can't see anything more than your mouse driver can see. Why can't we just write something like this for Windows or Linux? Seems like these companies want to sell $100 hardware device rather than let people download a $10 software package.
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Another semi-obvious possible use would be to utilize similar technology to make operating a mouse on a train (or other bumpy ride) less error-prone.
I think this may help people with parkinsons although they do shake quite violently (in many cases).
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... would that work for the shaking associated with "one hand surfing"?!
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Here's a photo of the device, and some more info. The price is $99 USD.
Isn't that what "Mouse Smoothing" does?
I'm embarassed to say I never bothered looking it up as I leave it at the default levels. However, I always assume it removed the jitteriness from the movement of a mouse so your movements would be more smooth/fluid.
I'm gonna get one of those and couple it with my force-feedback mouse...
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The mouse controller is being marketed by Montrose Secam Limited. It is available only for PS/2 mice at the moment, although a USB version is in the works.
A software version of the device is available at IBM Alphaworks
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My father's hands shake some due to essential tremors, and he uses a trackball to overcome this. With a trackball he can position the cursor where he wants and then take his thumb off the ball while he clicks so he's sure to click the right spot. His hands aren't that bad though, so I'm not sure how this would work for someone with really shaky hands.
How are you supposed to control the software or
even install the software? Right, you use the mouse.
Oh, wait...
This device comes with a big fat knob and 3 tall
switches. The worst trouble will be getting the
plug connected.
My hands always shake when I'm using p2p apps, out of fear of the RIAA finding me out. It's hard to trade the latest music and movies. Not any more! Take that, RIAA!
My hands are shaking since I was a child and doctors say there is no direct cause for this ( ie no known disease ). And its usually tedious task to use mouse. So thank you IBM =)
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Because from the looks of it, this device is OS inpedendent. You could use it for anything that accepts a mouse input - even devices that use propietary OS (XBox can use a mouse, can't it?), and plus: you can take hardware with you. What if your friend doesn't have that driver installed?
This causes shaking of the hands (ranging from 'ever so slight' to 'disturbing') because of a flaked out thyroid. Medication helps now but there were weird days when I couldn't use a mouse. I got one of those softball sized trackballs and used it on those days. This looks cool and could really help with people who suffer from hyp(o|er)thyroidism and Hashimoto's. The benefits are obvious for Parkinson's type diseases too.
Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
I have an essential tremor, albeit a mild one. It only manifests itself severely when my muscles are tensed, like making a tight fist. Most of this time it's not a problem, but I have days when my hands are a little bit shaky and I'm prone to stray clicks. Accidentally closing a window is seriously annoying.
Tremors suck. People who have severe tremors need all the help they can get. I know someone with a severe tremor, and she has to put up with a lot of stares and sometimes hostility. Once a nurse yelled at her to HOLD STILL! while trying to take a blood sample, as if she were doing it on purpose just to piss the nurse off. Of course, the stress of that situation only made it worse.
What would really be nice would be bowls, glasses, and spoons that stay level so someone with a shaky hand could drink a martini or have some soup without spilling. Right now all they have are weighted utensils, which suck.
BTW, age is a factor, but essential tremors can happen at any age. I'm 40, and I've had this tremor for 20 years or so. Fortunately, it hasn't gotten worse.
now you can use it at the internet cafe, or at home and at work or school, or the business center at the hotel or whatever, and you don't have to wait for the world to catch up and add support in their drivers, or worry about whether the hotel is running Windows 98 still or whether your office will allow the drivers or whatnot.
It's a lot more enabling to give someone a small device that solves their problem discreetly rather than no option except to wait for the world to a) realize a problem and b) work to fix it on a wide scale.
Education: Definition, term "Benign Essential Tremors": "Benign", not caused from malignancy/tumor/progressive disease; "essential", necessary or common - everyone's hands shake to some degree, it's just some (to) a lot more noticeable in some of us; "Tremors", shaking or vibratory motions.
There are many of us who are not geriatric, alcoholic, diabetic, epileptic, or otherwise impaired who will welcome this device as an alternative to keeping mouse sensitivity at minimum.
(Oh, and yes, I *do* suck at FPS games, and I *do* find it frustrating, as it's one of the ways I spend quality time (time *they* enjoy) with my sons)
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