Microsoft Proposes Thumb-Driven Interfaces

bonch writes "Microsoft Research has demonstrated examples of two thumb-driven interfaces for handhelds proposed a few weeks ago. Today's devices require the use of two hands; Microsoft wants to reduce this to one. Usability tests showed, however, that some users had difficulty adjusting to the thumb movements. Full researcher's report here."

Comments

TDA?

[Bananatree3]

This sounds extremely familure to the already-on-market TDA (Tactile Digital assistant). Is this a Microsoft copycat?

sounds familiar

[thundercatslair]

It seems that microsoft is looking to have some kind of setup like apples iPod, but for a PDA. This might be a problem for some though, my thumb is gigantic so trying to make precision movements might be difficult.

Two hands?!

[Richard_at_work]

I can handle both a trackpad and a trackpoint very well with one hand - a finger for the pointer and a finger or thumb for the button(s). Ive been doing this for years. How is this new?

Re:Discrimination

[jacen_sunstrider]

You'd think this is funny, but I know a suprising amount of people missing at least 1 thumb. THis device would be handy for those with incomplete digits.

Thumb-driven interfaces?...

[meringuoid]

... Like a mobile? Like an iPod?

I bet when they patent it it'll be broad enough that both the above are covered.

how is this new?

[strider3700]

My current job is building a program for a handheld device. Because the unit will be used outdoors while the users are wearing gloves in winter I also came up with the idea of really big buttons on screen.

The secret to writing easy to use applications for CE .Net or mobile devices is to completely ignore the programming standards as recommended by mircrosoft.

Out main issue is finding hardware that is robust enough (IP67 should be tough enough, IP65 is not) with all the bells and wistles and most importantly they need a good keyboard for lots of data entry. The industry seems to be moving away from keyboard entry but if you're doing lots of data entry it is the only way to go. I've also found that units are failing tests that they are rated to survive easily.

At this point It's almost looking like having custom units built is the way to go

Coders of the world: UNITE!!!

[DmitryProletariat]

The thing to remember about Microsoft, though, is that the marketing department, not the actual engineers, seems to run the company. Microsoft is so into destroying the competition that sometimes the implementation of their products get a bit sloppy[...]

They're a monopoly. All monopolies act sluggish when external competitive pressure is removed. Engineers never run a company, because they're not the owners. Nor do marketers. The board of directors runs the company, and it is the board that sides with the marketers over the engineers; for whatever reason.

This is why capitalist pigs like Bill Gates and Steve Balmer should have their private property claimed by the great ruling masses. Then we should cover them in plaster, make statues of them, and pout steaming hot grits all over their calcified bodies. Coders of the world UNITE!!!

Um, Treo?

[GrouchoMarx]

Oh, this is on Brighthand. No wonder they think Microsoft is novel...

Seriously, though, there's a good one-thumb or nearly one-thumb interface out there now on the palmOne Treo 650. (Not from Microsoft, of course, so they don't acknowledge it.) It's not perfect, but the learning curve is very low. It supports both one-thumb and two-thumb interaction, or stylus interaction if you want. However, with the thumbboard and good software integration I was able to go a week with it without using the stylus in any of the included programs.

Sorry, MS, you're not being innovative. You're following palmOne. How sad is that. :-)

Thumbs down

[symbolic]

I remember reading an article not too long ago that discussed problems people were having from extended use of their thumbs for things like text messaging, and gameboy-like appliances. The condition is now commonly referred to as "Nintendo Thumb". I guess Microsoft wants its share of this market as well.

Treo 650 is already very close.

[Ira Sponsible]

The PalmOne Treo 650 pda-phone is already very close to being a thumb-operated device. You can navigate almost everywhere and select almost anything using the 5-way navigational keypad, then there's the built-in hardware keyboard. I routinely use this device single-handedly, using only my thumb to navigate and enter text. It's actually pretty rare that I HAVE TO break out the stylus and tap something on the screen (usually my thumbnail is good enough). The bigest limit is the size of the keyboard is larger than the range of motion of my thumb, requiring slight shifting of the way I hold it in my hand as I'm using it, but I would not categorize that as a problem with the design as it's not something that is a nuisance to work with. Bottom line is, what is the innovation we're seeing from MS? We already HAVE this.

Thumb driven joysticks are pretty good

[Xenna]

I was thinking more along the lines of the thumb driven tiny joysticks on my Garmin Etrex Vista GPS, my Nokia 9300 and my mother's Konica X31 camera.

I kinda like those, they're small, easy to control movement in 4 directions and can be pressed for enter. A pretty cool device for controlling menus with one thumb.

X.