A DIY Mid-Air Pointing Device

Werner Heuser writes with an article in Linuxdevices on building your own handheld pointing device that works in mid-air. There is a YouTube video showing the Soap in action and detailed instructions to make your own Soap. From the article: "'Soap,' which resembles a bar of soap, is based on hardware found in a common wireless optical mouse, and is relatively easy to make, according to its inventors. Imagine numerous situations in which one might wish to control an appliance while standing or walking, for example, when giving a slide presentation or interacting with a wall-sized display."

Comments

Ugh..

[Rob T Firefly]

and detailed instructions to make your own Soap.

I've already seen "Fight Club," thanks.

Don't feel like reinventing the wheel?

[Total_Wimp]

...you can try an Air Mouse from Gryration. I know we're all really excited about the Wii and all, but, honestly, it wasn't the first, and isn't the only, device that does motion sensing.

I know it's not home made, but it does the job pretty well.

TW

Re:Don't feel like reinventing the wheel?

[Tmack]

rtfa... this isnt a motion-sensing device. This is a Do It Yourself (hence the DIY tag) project to basically make a wireless mouse operable in mid air by changing its enclosure and sticking it in a sock.

Tm

Re:Don't feel like reinventing the wheel?

[HappySqurriel]

If you own a Wii (and a computer with Blue Tooth) you can check out WiiLi.org and use your Wiimote on your PC ...

On top of that, I think most people know the Wiimote isn't the first motion sensing device (or free hand moust); it is just one of the most complete devices and the only one being pushed by a major coporation. If it wasn't for Nintendo ensuring hundreds of games were being produced for the Wii, it would mostly just end up being a novelty and a piece of triva 10 years from now.

Re:Don't feel like reinventing the wheel?

[isnoop]

Similar, but only in the manner that they can be used without a surface to press against.
Tilt sensing is fundamentally different than this or a flying trackball. For one thing, if you set this down, your control point won't go careening to one side or another. Tilt sensitive devices are inherently joysticks. A mouse is a mouse. The Wiimote may bridge that gap, but only if you have an IR sensor beam to provide a position reference.

So...

[syphax]

... you put a sock around a stubby thing and kinda rub it with your hand, and it makes you happy.

Except that the stubby thing is attached to a computer.

I believe that ./ers are uniquely qualified to operate this device.

Yep...

[justinbach]

Three researchers at Microsoft Research have created an innovative handheld pointing device that works in mid-air. "Soap" -- which resembles a bar of soap -- is based on hardware found in a common wireless optical mouse...

Yeah, most of FPS gamers I know could use some soap...

Interesting concept, lacking functionality

[CarnivoreMan]

It's an interesting new method of cursor control, but I doubt it's all that accurate or useful for playing games(or anything else requiring much for clicking on specific targets). Since you're spinning the inards of the device around, and the button/s with it, that could make quickly clicking to fire your gun a problem. You'll need to 1: know if your on the top or bottom of the mouse to know which side the button is on(though this could be resolved by some sort of bumps on the inards to signify which side is which), and 2: moving your finger or thumb to the button would probably result in more movement of the cursor.

It looks like the dude controlling the mouse onscreen to click folders and other small targets is having a bit of hard time with accurate clicking.

But to be fair, its just the guts of a mouse in a hunk of fabric... not some device designed with two million dollars of R&D and a 20 man team. It is cool for what it is. Its a good concept piece or just a bit of fun. Perhaps it will lead to more functional devices based on the same methods of movement. So with all that said, I do think its rather cool.

Re:The sensor beam's for position in space...

[roscivs]

Mousing with the Wiimote using IR pointing is actually fundamentally different from mousing with the Wiimote using the accelerometer. (The Wii itself uses IR pointing.) To get a better idea of the difference, check out these videos:

Wiimousing on Linux with IR pointing

Wiimousing on Windows [Half-Life] with the accelerometer

Re:Patent Violation

[danpsmith]

You know that this is probably violating someone's patent. Probably MULTIPLE patents!

The article is about manipulating items you bought to make something new, that's like saying making a ball of rubber bands out of rubber bands is violating patent. It's not a commercially marketed device yet, so patents are a non-issue.

But thanks for playing.