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Microsoft Patents Foot Computing
theodp writes "Microsoft Research has made it possible for a mother to surf the web while nursing her newborn, thanks to its newly-patented 'foot-based user interface' (FUI?). 'In addition to causing health problems,' explains Microsoft in the patent, 'the traditional keyboard and mouse interface can be simply inconvenient in certain situations as well. In one instance, a mother with a baby in her arms is unable to easily perform simple tasks, such as checking email, on a computer.' Users of the 'Foot-Based Interface for Interacting With a Computer,' however, will be able to move their feet and step on the floor a la DDR to execute various commands, such as deleting email or scrolling down the screen. Due to the usual foot-dragging on the part of the USPTO, the patent — filed for in 2006 — was essentially obsolete by the time it was issued on Tuesday, a week after Microsoft's Kinect launch."
Forgot about these?
Savant Elite Programmable USB Foot Switches
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/fs-savant-elite.htm
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
The next time Windows crashes on me, I will demonstrate another foot-based input method, until nothing is left but bits and pieces.
Now non-MIT graduates can scam casinos too!
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
I suppose this means that my MIDI expression pedal is going to shoot up to $200 due to cross licensing. To say nothing of my PI Engineering foot controller that I use to switch editing controls in Pro Tools.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
Perhaps, they may also patent the tarsal tunnel syndrome (or the like, I'm not a doctor)?
It's going to look just like a Monty Python cartoon.
There is prior art for foot-based interfaces
I've heard of "one handed typing", but if you have to get your feet, both hands and a baby involved, seek therapy.
Finally a patent I can agree with. This is some innovative work. Just this morning while driving to work I was thinking "gee, I wish my feet could be used to control something.. too bad nobody has invented foot based controls"
Finally, MS is finding a way to elimiate all those pesky quiet moments so they can be filled with email and web browsing. I look forward to Meditation Computing.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
You gotta be some seriously pathetic Internet Junkie if you can't tear yourself away from surfing the web while taking care of a baby. Sad. REALLY freakin' sad people.
-WY
INSERT INTO comment VALUE('Doh!') WHERE user='you';
Computing using feet is just not good. They should go with metric measurements to maintain compatibility with international standards.
What? They mean actual feet? Oh... nevermind....
I suppose it's foot-dragging when you want the patent to be granted, and thoroughness when you don't want it to be granted.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Sorry Microsoft, but this has been around for over a decade.
http://www.footmouse.com/
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/I-think-Kinect-is-OK2c-but-its-the-best-24150-I-spent-on-a-console/Item20369.aspx
One of the areas I figured Kinect would excel would be in rehabilitation and those who cannot use normal input devices. Seems this guy's kid is a great example of it. Controllers for the most part are just wrong. The Wii came close but the feel is broken as many times the motions one makes with the controller don't match up well if at all with on screen action.
So, yeah, this MS patent is a bit old, out of date, whatever. It is just more of programmers and such learning how people can, will, and do, interface with computers. the keyboard and mouse have got to go one day.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Please read the actual patent claims themselves before declaring prior art. The fact that the Slashdot headline boldly proclaims "Microsoft Patents Foot Computing" doesn't mean that the patent covers every manifestation of foot-controlled computing. Every single time a patent is discussed in Slashdot, we go through the same song and dance about how there's prior art. And yes, I know it's Slashdot and nobody actually reads the primary sources, but jeez, it gets old.
For a readable primer on how the US patent system works, read Schechter and Thomas' Principles of Patent Law
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
... the interface will initially be test-marketed in Asia, under "Hong Kong FUI" branding.
Rose Mary Woods
(Ok, not anymore, but if they'd come out with this a few years ago she would have been perfect.)
I am officially gone from
I have been using two foot paddles for both gaming and general computer use for roughly 8 years now... In Windows one paddles basically does a page back the other for change song. But they are especially awesome in games. In shooter type of games I usually have reload and use or take cover and in rpg games they are the hp and mana potion buttons :)
What about the people who cheat at roulette by using a computer and the interface in their shoe? Or was that in Blackjack?
Fight Spammers!
more commonly knew as FUD
examples: stomp boxes for guitar players, foot pedals for sewing machines, which were copied after foot pedals for Movieola film editor viewers, foot pedals for Ironrite ironing drum machines, accelerator pedals, on and on.
oh, and if my hands are busy, I pet the cat with my foot.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
"To summarize, embodiments allow a user to take a break from his or her normal working position and engage in a fun and interactive way of interacting with a personal computer. In contrast to the traditional method of using a keyboard and mouse to interact with a computer, embodiments efficiently utilize a foot-based interface, such as a foot pad, to interact with different application programs (e.g., email or photos application programs). In one example, a user can easily check email by stepping on different sections of a foot pad.
By encouraging a user to exercise, an increase in cardiovascular health, improvement in muscle tone, increase in bone density, reduction in anxiety and stress may be achieved."
I will give them this, way down in the fine print of this Microsoft patent they do at least encourage you to get off your damn computer and exercise once in a while.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
You may call it that, Submitter, but if you bothered reading the page you linked to, you'd see that in spite of an average of 450 thousand applications received each month, the backlog is actually going down.
On instructables there has already been a mouse for your foot for over a year now
Surely it's a Foot-operated User Device (FUD)?
I decided that behaving ethically was the most nihilistic thing I could do. - Paul Pavel
I remember Blizzard tried to pawn footpads off on players for World of Warcraft. I don't think those ever got any foothold either. Good luck M$
that we've gotten to a point where we can't even spend time with our children without feeling the need to check for email or facebook updates?
Now a drop-kick interface that would be handy.
--- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
I think I've seen something with a foot interface that keeps the hands free before. I guess the "...on a computer" part makes it an original invention that nobody would have thought of.
I have patented a penis input device, to make it easier to type when, well, you know...
There have been a number of foot operated input devices developed for card counting hardware/applications.
Have gnu, will travel.
...use her breasts to surf the web while riding a bicycle? You know, thinking maybe a handle bar mounted pda, or something like that.
Bukowski said it. I believe it. That settles it.
Would that one time I kicked a Windows computer in frustration count as prior art?
Seriously, this has got to be obvious since some people use their feet as others would normally use hands.
FUD or FooBaR?
I'm leery about this Foot User Device. Will it cause carpal tunnel of the ankle? Can you get athlete's foot by sharing it? Does it provide adequate arch support? Until we know more about this FUD, I recommend that no one use it.
Microsoft had to give up on the "Nipple Mouse(tm)", because it kept shocking mother and baby.
In one instance, a mother with a baby in her arms is unable to easily perform simple tasks, such as checking email, on a computer.' Users of the 'Foot-Based Interface for Interacting With a Computer,' however, will be able to move their feet and step on the floor a la DDR to execute various commands, such as deleting email or scrolling down the screen.
For some reason I don't think it's quite a good idea to play DDR (or even emulate the DDR menu system) while holding a baby.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Shift-Ctrl-Alt pedals were sold by Fry's Electronics in mid-90s, website is still up: http://www.bilbo.com/
I remember when the mouse came out, and a lot of women --used to operating sewing machines-- would place them on the floor, and step on them. "Certainly not as robust as the unit used for the sewing machine" was the usual complaint. The complaining continued when they found that the unit was dirty after being on the floor and under foot, and they had to wash both unit and hand. I look forward to using the Kinect with my Linux box, (along with the new open source drivers). Sorry Microsoft users, none for you!
"YOU! Stop reading Slashdot and get back to work!" BOOT TO THE HEAD
Now I owe Microsoft a buck.
Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
no way my feet has fungus!
I'm kinda confused. I'm certain it's not April, but.... Ok, just try to tell me that if this article was posted April 1, you would believe it!
You moved your mouse. Please restart Windows for changes to take effect.
Foot based input devices have existed since the mid 80's if not before. There is a really simple solution to this kind of issue. If there is obvious prior art the patent official that approved the patent app must personally pay a significant fine for not doing his job. Government officials should have consequences for screwing up just like those of us in the private sector.
RSD
so...does this make a Foot User Driver just more FUD?
This will be a huge bonus for anyone who is paralysed from the waist up and therefore unable to use their arms. ;-)
My grandpa who had never used a computer before thought that a regular mouse was meant to be used as a foot pedal.
Wait, so now I can have both hands free when browsing, umm, cooking recipies?
> step on the floor a la DDR to execute various commands
Doesn't that mean that DDR has prior art, then ?
What a depressingly stupid machine.
Yes, the nearly-five-year lag in issuance of this patent seems to have rendered it little more than quaint. However, it may still prove useful as a piece of the puzzle in the growing movement toward full-body motion-based computer interfaces. As one aspect of this, Microsoft's technology may prove valuable, and could even earn it significant sums in patent enforcement.