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Ergonomic Software Eliminates Mouse Clicking
ThinSkin writes "GentleMouse is an ergonomic software program that eliminates the need to click the mouse by translating cursor movements into mouse actions, providing an easy way to perform mouse actions without manually pressing buttons or scrolling. ExtremeTech's review of the GentleMouse provides an in-depth look of this unusual software and was quite pleased with its "intuitive interface, execution, and software options" but the software "cannot overcome issues in certain apps where clicking a mouse is essential, such as when gaming or designing graphics." Here's a video tutorial of the GentleMouse in action."
I like the look and the idea of the software, but I can't find a download link to click.
liqbase
It's one of the things I'm good at! If someone managed to do away with it I'd just get a mouse with a non-functioning mouse button just for laughs.
Finally someone solved this problem. Index fingers rejoice!
Libertarian Leaning Political Discussion Forum.
Yeah, mouse gestures are so great. Nothing like some piece of crap software randomly interfering with what you are trying to do.
Have a look here: http://www.dontclick.it/
The problem with the typical user-computer interface paradigm is that we have to use a mouse at all (save game playing and graphics design). Moving my hand from the home position every time I need the precision of a mouse pointer is a huge annoyance and waste of time and effort. More so than pushing my index finger down.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
But the site is still (partially) functional: download.
At this rate I don't expect it to work much longer (or I applaud their tech).
Quack, quack.
The GentleMouse II - This next gen mouse will not only click the button and scroll for you, but it will automatically move the mouse pointer for you. You don't even have to touch the mouse. Works with the Honeywell Internal Viteous Eye Sensor (sensor and implantation surgery sold separately). Leaves hands free for interweb pr0n.
The GentleMouse GX - You not only don't have to touch the mouse, you don't have to even be near the computer thanks to the new DARPA MindLink WaveSender Interface (Majestic Ultra DOD security rating required and available separately). Now you fat lazy bastards don't even have to get out of bed!
The GentleMouse EXTREME! - The entire computer is just an neurochemical overlay in your brain. Perfect for coma patients, or people who wish they were in a coma. Your subconscious mind does all the work without any intrustion into conscious awareness. You'll just have to trust us that it's working.
Reminds me of Optimoz or Sensiva; both are mouse gesture programs that have been around for years. (Optimoz being a browser extension for firefox) Fun stuff, though not actually very new.
Well, it's not for everyone, that's for sure. I've gotten really interested in mouse gestures of late though, especially on the touchpad for my laptop. It has a "Click-lock" feature which allows me to click and drag using only the touchpad. The gesture took a little bit of effort, and it's certainly not for little stubby fingers, but totally worth it. I love having an ultra-sensitive touchpad, and the addition of this gesture allows me to avoid the clumsiness of holding down the button with my thumb while dragging stuff across my desktop. I need only one button on my touchpad now: the one that pops up the context menu.
NVIDIA had a mouse gesture for switching between desktops a while back, whipping the mouse around in a circle clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which desktop you wanted to use. It wasn't great -- I had a hard time getting the sensitivity exactly right -- but it was a novel way to control the computer. I hope to see more developments like this; I'm sure most of us hacker types that have great keyboarding skills will get a lot of use out of more flexible, customizable mouse control.
"Please describe the scientific nature of the 'whammy'" - Agent Scully
eliminates the need to click the mouse
We have hit an all new low on the laziness scale.
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
I would click on the article, but couldnt manage to do the right gesture.
Nice, but the motion seems more complicated than just clicking.o undkey.htmLINK
In my opinion the perfect input device should not have moving parts, just two microphones. Here's a description of a purely acoustic keyboard.
http://nanoquimica.awardspace.com.nyud.net:8080/S
I wonder what John Carmack would think of this.
This is nasty! My computer just learned how to "double click its mouse".
Would you rather double-click to select Internet links and toolbar buttons? Probably not.
Some arguments to use double clicking have to do with desktop icons.
Well personally, I disable icons on XFCE.
but even back when I did use desktop icons, there was no problem differencing between selecting, dragging, and copying icons even with no double click.
Finally, these can be useful!
Oh wait, it only runs on Windows.
WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
I've never experienced aches or pains from a mouse. Then again, I'm 19. Still, carpal tunnel, arthritis, and RSI seem much more reasonable from the motions necessary to press the keys on the old-style clicky keyboard that I use than the miniscule mouse-click movement. Not that I'm trying to troll; I'm curious. Has anyone here ever gotten repetitive-stress injuries from clicking a mouse? Wouldn't typing the y, h, and d keys kill your finger much quicker?
I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
So learn to use a proper CLI and solve your problem.
Alternatively, popular GUI's (Windows most of all) allow you to control virtually everything with the keyboard.
And for those who really passionately hate the mouse, or can't use it for some other reason, there's something called MouseKeys that you can turn on to move the pointer with the keyboard.
... because one-buttoned mice still are too complex...
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
I agree that the mouse clicking thing is kind of overthought, and while I think that acoustic keyboard is a neat idea I don't think it would work in practice. First of all, and most importantly, there is no tactile feedback. Secondly, it seems like even with directional microphones it would be susceptible to background noise, echo, obstruction, misalignment, etc. Finally, that system is way more complex than a traditional keyboard. There are a number of factors that could mess with it, while the only problems facing a traditional keyboard are mechanical failure (i.e. a spring breaks) and electrical failure (i.e. short circuit, etc). There is a reason the traditional keyboard and mouse are so ubiquitous.
The review doesn't even bother giving the system requirements, not telling us it's a Windows only utility.
This really shows how Linux or Mac users are non-existent in the world of ExtremeTech.
Nothing to see here, move along.
"It's dead, Jim."
stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.
This shit shouldn't even be slashdotted, it should be stoned to death. And booed and kicked as it's corpse rots.
Here's an interesting remote.
My answer to better ergonomics has been to avoid the mouse as much as possible.
Using keynav in Linux and mouser in Windows, I almost never have to touch the mouse anymore for most routine mouse clicking applications (like web browsers).
Of course, I've had to rely on applications' built-in keyboard shortcuts too. Keyboard shortcuts are faster, and repetitive commands take less effort.
And by using the keyboard almost exclusively, I can focus on maintaining good typing posture, such as by putting the keyboard on my lap while sitting up straight, since ergonomics about your whole body posture, not just your wrists.
on click two clicks command line no clicks...
The software that types for you. Just stare at your keyboard, dance around your desk, and the software will type your emails, code, for you!
The "Pro" version can even chat with your girlfriends better than you!
So the cmdline is called ergonomic now?
And I thought we were aiming for a "Ready for the Desktop" target where even mouth-breathers can use Linux?
Ratpoison window manager + GNU Screen + CLI tools = the ultimate Unix environment
A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wavebands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive - you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same programme.
play foosball.
who tried to envision what the opposite of a "gentle" mouse would be?
Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
Isn't this similar to Opera's "wand"? Or is it more than that?
"but the software "cannot overcome issues in certain apps where clicking a mouse is essential, such as when gaming or designing graphics."
He didn't mention ass numbing hours of clicking on porn. YES!
On Xfce, I've never had any icons except the ones on the bottom of the screen that open in one click.
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
sounds annoying. I'll take my extra clicking over having to waste time waiting.
brian botkiller "Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance" - Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
You forgot the slownewsday tag!
As for the rest of us... how in the hell is this an improvement on clicking?
bytecolor
Now Apple can justify selling computers that have mouses with no buttons.
Now why the hell would I want to see a menu pop-up everytime I hover my mouse pointer over something?
"For that brief second while you hover over a link, a small transparent window pops up and displays a list of common click commands. You can select a command simply by moving the cursor over that desired command..."
There is a alternative to GentleMouse - it's ActiveClick and it's free! Why spend money...???
http://www.activeclick.com/
If you go to the ActiveClick homepage - it gives you the serial # to unlock ActiveClick without paying for it.
It's the small movements of the wrist. Frankly I see this as causing more problems than it solves.
I've heard this idea back in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 ....2007
Anyone else think this is a horrible idea? All it's doing is attempting to mimic the functionality of mouse buttons, but adding an extra layer of complexity. Mouse button clicking is an extremely direct and intuitive method of interaction. When you have to translate mouse gestures into modal switches (e.g. selecting text) with a menu layout that doesn't make much sense (go left to left click but go further left to right click), it requires more mental processing than you have with standard mouse interaction. I really can't see this being very useful as a normal PC interface. Maybe for things like PDAs? But I've seen better demos for pen-based interaction.
must be a microsoft profuct!
I find that moving my finger for 1 millimeter in a downward fashion while exerting very little force is just about as ergonomic as it gets.
How long before some creates a F/OSS version? It's not like this is hard to do.
Slow News Day
I've got this really nifty TrackPoint keyboard thing. My "mouse" is between my G, B, and H keys. My fingers NEVER have to leave the home-row. Its great. And the buttons are right below the spacebar, for easy clicking. Of course, the better solution is to not use software that requires that clicking thing anyway.
There's mousetool and kmousetool too. And don't forget hit-a-hint for almost onehanded web browsing (use letters instead of numbers).
wtf's going on?
Where is everybody?
Is it just me, or did this site go dead?
Maybe I'm way off base, but I didn't think that clicking a mouse was really a huge cause of RSI... it seems like such a small motion.
I suppose some people might find this software to be more comfortable, but as someone who moves around on their mouse and keyboard really quickly (People watching me use my computer tend to get confused and ask how the hell I have any idea what I'm doing), I doubt this would really help me that much.
But hey, there's a lot of people out there, with a lot of different computer habits, and I wouldn't be suprised to learn that some people found this really useful... but it just doesn't sound very appealing to me at all.
Trying to predict what a user is wanting to do is quite useless. Knowing what the user wants to do is what matters. Imagine moving the mouse out of the way so it wouldn't be in a website-embedded video. Oops! Nevermind! Since my mouse was over my other web browser, it brought it into focus. Try to move it back to focus the window? Oops, moved it over a link on the page, now I'm on Disney.com.
Great idea, and toy, but I can't see it ever hitting mainstream. It would definitely have its uses for accessiblity applications, however.
So now you jerk the mouse around instead of slightly depressing a button with your finger?
I click my mouse thousands of times per day and that's hardly a problem for my wrists. I get much more pain from typing, reading books or MOVING THE MOUSE AROUND.
this one made my life easier https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2207/
what has happened to /. as of late?
I think the idea of mouse gestures was implemented years ago. From what I remembered, it was called "glicks".
No more click fraud!
I don't need no stinkin' mouse. I can do everything with a keyboard!
http://www.google.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sc athole.net
Computer users can click a mouse up to a thousand times on a full day... I guess they never played Poke the Bunny
Maybe if this sig is witty or clever enough, someone will love me...
Finally an answer to the ever popular question of how to get people to click on advertisements.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Try playing WASD in a FPS. You'll soon notice a numbness in your fingers.
Think geek sells the "Laser" keyboard.
Unfortunately, without tactile feedback as to the position of your fingers on the keys, it's pretty easy to get lost. You use the edges of the keys to calibrate your fingers on a moment-to-moment basis, even if you don't realize it. And the deceleration of a rubber mat is a lot more forgiving on your fingers than tapping away on a cheap particle board desktop.
So it's a good idea, but in practice it falls a little short.
The ______ Agenda
"It is an ingrained thought process in humans to see, reach and grab. "
Well that explains mouse porn.
Pizza = pie
pie > cake
This is a great idea, but in practice the majority of the RSI injuries I see come from the repetitive side to side motion made while dragging the mouse across the screen. In a traditional palm-down mouse, your radial and ulnar bones in your lower arm cross. This constricts the tendon sheaths, resulting in inflammation and eventually scarring.
The ideal long term hand position is thumb-up...think of holding a joystick (does anyone remember those?). The bones doesnt cross, and you use stronger muscles to move the cursor. In this position, your bicep and deltoid (shoulder) muscles carry the load, instead of the weaker muscles in your lower arms. Your palmar muscles are quite strong, and more than capable of the workload of a day's worth of traditional clicking.
If you've ever been rock climbing, you'll notice your arms muscles tire long before your fingers do. Or try this, pick up your mouse and move it side to side 200 times. Arm tired yet? Now click 200 times at the same rate. Feels easier, doesnt it?
GentleMouse may help alleviate some of the causes of RSI; however, in my opinion a upright mouse design will keep your arms healthy in a much more ergonomic way.
khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
I don't have to click either. Try opening a terminal window sometime (with the appropriate hot keys) and simply tell the computer what to do - it's not the boss of you.
Are you sure you didn't mean Gentle Male? [www.google.com]
I understand that the idea is to remove the strain caused by clicking the mouse--that the experience will be 'gentle' since you are simply moving your mouse around in flowing motions rather than harshly clicking on things. However, I can't help but think that the stress caused by using this new interaction scheme will be worse than any RSI from clicking a mouse button. Frankly when a computer responds slowly or unpredictably, people get very frustrated. Having to carefully position your mouse pointer over and over again seems like a major pain. Moreover, the interface seem unforgiving, in the sense that if you make a positioning mistake (or hover for too short/too long) you won't get the intended effect. Also, the neat little icons will sometimes obscure your view. What if, after hovering over a link, you actually wanted to select text that is now covered by the little squares? Well, you have to move away from the link and wait.
I'm all for novel interface enhancements... but I think this one does more harm than good, because user frustration is worse for health than a few mouse clicks.
While it may prevent the act of clicking, it will more than double the amount of time to accomplish the same action. And is mouse clicking really that much of a problem when compared to the amount of finger movements done while typing?
As a suffer of RSI type symptoms, I have found that simply using a mouse is painful and can bring on tingling/numbness through the posture and wrist movements alone. Clicking is only one part of the problem. In my case I was told my injury was likely to have been caused by constant left/right wrist movements and having the lower arm muscles in a tense state for long periods through simply gripping/moving the mouse.
For me what has worked in minimising the symptoms and letting me be productive again was a Tablet/Pen interface, the position you hold it in is a *lot* more natural and doesn't exert anywhere near as much pressure on the wrist, left clicking is effortless. Some Tablets now come with a touchbar on the side for easy scrolling as well.
That being said, the program looks quite handy and could go quite well possibly alongside a pen interface (where multi-button clicking can still be awkward) but as an 'anti' RSI measure your a *lot* better off with a tablet (with which you can still do Photoshop, 3D, and most games).
Sure a tablet costs more - but at the end of the day if it's your health your concerned about ~£100 for a reasonable Wacom (less for a clone) would be money far better spent. I just wish I had got one earlier and saved myself a *lot* of grief - you don't generally give a damn though about RSI type disorders till youve got one though unfortunately.
There are at least 2 other opensource autoclick programs for linux/windows since last 5 years. Don't remember the names right now. rsiguard has a trial for 30 days. very good if you have RSI.
Oh, great! You and the clickless mouse people want to take away my last bit of exercise I get! Dammit, if it weren't for that double-clicking, my index finger and cardiovascular system would waste away to nothing.
Maybe I'm alone in this or something, but clicking the mouse doesn't hurt my wrists at all after 20 years of using computers. It's holding the mouse button down while moving the mouse that hurts.
Even if I use a trackball, I get the same problem (but in a different area of the wrist).
Either these people are way off the mark, or I am more unique than I'd like to be.
fifth sigma, inc.
If I had to use a mouse and didn't have a button to click, I don't even want to know what I would do.
sudo apt-get install kmousetool
I got tired of repetitively moving my hand from the keyboard to the mouse, so I designed and build my own advanced keyboard that incorporates all the features and performance of a stand alone optical mouse. I call it the keyboard of the future.
I have eliminated the stand-alone mouse.
I can point, click, type, and scroll in any order simultaneously and instantly all from the home row.
I can click and/or scroll with my fingers or use optional foot pedals to click.
My keyboard gives you total and complete control of the computer screen all from the home row.
It is superior to and dominates all other devices in performance, productivity, and efficiency.
I do not know when it will be on the market, but it will impress you.
It also addresses the caps lock problem some people have (caps lock problem, over a 1000 comments on slashdot), and the delete, backspace, and esc keys have been moved to a more convenient place.
It is a high performance, high productivity, and comfortable keyboard.
google: inputexpert ( for the interface of the future)
from the "father of the perfect keyboard"
I want to download it too !
Doing complex gestures with the pointer is just so much more convenient than having to press one damn single button !
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Just because you don't need it does not make it crapola or, as somebody else said, dumb.
weirdest thing I ever saw: scientology advertising on slashdot.
that this won't actually improve my Minesweeper times.
The mouse was a teaching aide to introduce users to the idea of moving the cursor on the screen the way they'd move a real object on their desk. Touchscreen tech was too crude in the early 1970s, or even in the 1980s, to introduce for direct pointing.
But now it works. Over a decade of PDA touchscreens has funded R&D that can put a precise, stable point just above the fingernail or stylus of any user.
Why do I have to use even a little trackpad in short strokes for indirect control of the cursor, when I could just point directly at that cursor? And why can't I use multiple fingers to describe lines, polygons, movement directions, multiple selections, and everything else I do with real objects on my real desktop?
--
make install -not war
Well, you should ask the Starcraft players that hit 250 actions per minute using just the mouse.
AFAIK they're doing fine. On the other hand, they can spend $100 on a mouse, and are not using el-cheapo brands.
In my experience the mouse shape and quality are very decisive factors. I'm 29, I use a Logitech MX-500 and doing 120 clicks per minute during half an hour makes absolutely no impact on me. However using another mouse just for Web browsing makes me feel very uncomfortable very soon.
To all the whiners: buy a better mouse.
We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.
Thinkpad users can keep their fingers in position.
There is a desktop solution available, too:
http://www.pckeyboard.com/pdf/Onthestick.pdf
--
No one ever got fired for buying Lenovo. Or something like that...
Everytime I seen a new mouse solution come up, no one ever mentions trying a trackball. Yes, it still has click buttons (but from the demo it wasn't clear to me how exactly you popped up the windows and didn't pick the wrong one), but all the movement is with one finger and no wrist movement.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.