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."

Comments

Kinesis Foot Switch

[Compaqt]

Forgot about these?

Savant Elite Programmable USB Foot Switches

http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/fs-savant-elite.htm

Re:Kinesis Foot Switch

[poetmatt]

nah, our patent office decided this was a non-obvious patent because it used words and drawings.

Re:Kinesis Foot Switch

[timeOday]

Forgot? Heavens no. They're first on our list of companies to extort for intellectual property that we now own.

Re:Kinesis Foot Switch

[icebike]

Read the patent. The patent speaks about electromagnetic waves not switches. YOu need to use light or IR (kinect uses IR)

So then its KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex all over again. Anyone schooled in the art would swap one signaling layer for another in a heartbeat (radio for wires), and having wireless keyboards for years means no one would come out with new devices requiring wires when a simple USB/Bluetooth dongle would suffice.

I still say this goes down upon first challenge.

Re:Kinesis Foot Switch

[Sulphur]

An obvious shoe in.

Windows.

[olsmeister]

The next time Windows crashes on me, I will demonstrate another foot-based input method, until nothing is left but bits and pieces.

Cardcounting made easy

[intellitech]

Now non-MIT graduates can scam casinos too!

Prior Art! Eudaemonic Pie

[at10u8]

There is prior art for foot-based interfaces

Alright look here, internet

[mrsteveman1]

I've heard of "one handed typing", but if you have to get your feet, both hands and a baby involved, seek therapy.

Good on Microsoft

[mewsenews]

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"

If you just gotta....

[gmac63]

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

Re:If you just gotta....

[Theaetetus]

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.

That's one way to look at it. Another, better way to look at it is that now people can spend more time taking care of their babies than they do currently, without sacrificing their work productivity.

Old idea is old

[MrEricSir]

Sorry Microsoft, but this has been around for over a decade.
http://www.footmouse.com/

Good story about a young kid and Kinect

[Shivetya]

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.

Prior Art! Prior Art!

[Infonaut]

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

Prior art: sewing machine

[noidentity]

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.