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EvoMouse Turns Your Digits Digital
cylonlover writes "With the plethora of mouse alternatives available or in development you'd be forgiven for thinking the humble computer mouse was some kind of torturous device inflicted upon computer users. But despite a multitude of challengers, the mouse has maintained its dominance while remaining largely unchanged since its unveiling in 1968. Now there's another alternative cursor relocation device set to hit the market called the evoMouse that turns just about any flat surface into a virtual trackpad with your finger as the pointer."
I'd be happy if Microsoft re-released the Trackball Explorer. It's never been bested as far as trackballs go.
using a logitech trackball right now, works on every surface, needs extremely little space, I don't need to push a mouse, and it looks nice and not like something out of a japanese manga for pre-schooler ... so ... what's the point of the evomouse again?
"DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
If this really works well, why don't they build it in into ultra-portable laptops?
Reminds me of the virtual laser keyboard that came out a few years back. Is there anyone out there who actually bought one and used it regularly (or, like, more than 5 minutes)?
I can't stand trackpads (of any nature), they feel unnatural and clunky to me. Things such as a precision drag and drop across the desktop seem almost impossible for me and no, I don't have massive chunky fingers! It's a pity that the other two methods of control on a laptop (Trackpoint and trackball) seem to have fallen out of favour, with the notable exception of Lenovo (which owes that to its IBM heritage of course). I did once see a review of a laptop which had a mini-mouse pop out on a stalk, but that wouldn't have been very comfortable to use.
The thought of using a trackpad out of choice on a desktop (even if it's a fancy virtual trackpad) is a turn-off to me. I'll be keeping my Microsoft mouse, thank you! (I just wish you could still buy the original Intellimouse Explorer, that was the most comfortable mouse I've ever used....)
So the summary is usually just copied verbatim from the article, right?
If it doesn't have 5000+ DPI and a 1ms response time then it'll just be ignored.
OT: I used to think the 5000 DPI mark was a gimmick... except now, anything below it feels just awful.
... that turns just about any flat surface into a virtual trackpad ...
/.
Great, I don't need my trackball anymore. Oh wait...
Described by its creators Celluon as the next evolution of the mouse, the evoMouse works in a similar way to the Invisible Computer Mouse we looked at last year – but is infinitely cuter.
Awww...cute. I am glad you did not mean a mouse on streoids, like those rats in Fallout 3.
Two infrared sensors that form the eyes of the small animal-shaped device track the user's finger movements
Great, I don't have to use my fingers anymore. Oh wait...
The evoMouse can even be used for drawing – or is that finger painting?
This should help let the Van Gogh in you out. Your fat fingers can't possibly get in the way.
while a handwriting recognition feature lets you write with your finger or a pen.
Phew, I thought you just said "your finger or a penis". Imagine that.
the evoMouse could also help reduce repetitive stress injuries like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by allowing users to hold their hand in a natural position.
Yes, in its natural position I always point my finger forward and down.
We are witnessing the making of the future from the first page of
I choose sandpaper as my evoMouse work surface. The added bonus is that when my wife is murdered and they suspect me as the culprit there won't be any fingerprints for them to lift off the hammer.
Accuracy aside, the ergonomics for touch based devices are terrible. Repetitive large movements in the wrists and fingers are bad whether you're moving a mouse around or dragging your finger on a surface. High resolution mice which only require an inch of movement to cross an entire screen provide good accuracy while minimising wrist and finger movement.
If you notice the video, there's quite a bit of latency between the physical action and the response on the screen. Which is kinda normal as this thing needs to do quite a bit of processing. From my experience with another mouse that for some reason had latency, slow response is *very, very* frustrating. So, no matter how cute it is, I can't see it succeeding in the market, not even as a device for a niche market.
I can't see it being very good for the fingers as well. Ok we use smartphones using fingers on touchscreens quite a bit, but for a device that boasts that it's the evolution of mouse they should have thought that 2-3 minutes (smartphone quick use, on the road, whatever) is very different from desktop/laptop use (could be hours).
Get this mouse == Welcome to my-fingers-hurt-and-input-is-now-freakin-slow world.
New device for sale soon? Check
Summary direct copypasta? Check
No testing or analysis performed? Check
Posted by Timothy? Check
Classic Slashvertisement. Come on editors, you're supposed to be better than this (I know, I must be new here, but I did say 'supposed').
It irks me to have to lift my hands from the keyboard to mouse around. I was thinking about a new design - how about a new combined mouse/keyboard system?
I'm imagining two chording modules; one for each hand. But each module is meant to be placed on the desk, with an optical sensor on the bottom. Not only do you get to mouse without lifting your hands off the 'keyboard', but you could open up a whole new library of gesture-based commands.
Perhaps their choice of name, "Evomouse" is a bit poor considering there's a company Nortek selling a mouse called the "Evo Mouse"...
I'm puzzled why this doesn't have a pico-projector. With no physical feedback, seeing what you're touching would make it a much more useful device. Especially after the hardware-hacker community got stuck into it.
For example, even if it isn't accurate/fast enough to replace the mouse, it can add another layer of input that might still result in sales from the first gen device. (Especially if it didn't steal focus from the main screen.)
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
So it must be time for another "Mouse Killer" story...
"Remember when I said I would never lie? Well, that was the first time."
You would think they have never done anything serious with a computer.
How about a GOOD ERGONOMIC POINTER DEVICE instead?
Reminds me of my fingerworks plate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FingerWorks - "we have reinvented the mouse". Nice, but the same basic problem.
No physical buttons! This is important, because it means that button presses must be made by interpreting the users gestures. And with interpretation comes misinterpretation. Software sometimes guesses wrong. And if it does that in an "unpredictable" or "random" way (I know it is an algorithm, but "random" from the user point of view) the user will (consciously or unconsciously) adapt by change his behavior - i.e. by emphasizing or repeating the gesture. This is annoying.
With a physical button there is no interpretation. You can feel it has been pressed. It may be by accident, but you know you're the one responsible for the click.
Another problem in my opinion is there is no weight. This is usually described as a feature, but in my experience the weight of the mouse gives stability and increases precision and for me this helps to reduce fatigue - I tend to overshoot or jitter and have to correct myself or do things slower when I don't have a physical object to give mass in my hand.
And finally; no scrollwheel. I don't notice that I use it, but whenever I encounter an old mouse without the wheel I realize how much I depend on it.
I like to use my laptop in bed sometimes while my wife is watching some crap on TV. I can just imagine her expression when I rest the EvoMouse between her breasts so that I can use her stomach as the 'Virtual Trackpad'.
"It's OK Darling, the instruction manual tells me I can use... oh crap - it said 'Any flat surface'.".
But despite a multitude of challengers, the mouse has maintained its dominance while remaining largely unchanged since its unveiling in 1968
Umm, NO. The mouse of today is nothing at all like the mouse of 1968. Well, other than the fact you hold something in your palm, face-down, and move it around a flat surface. I haven't seen a mouse that used a trackball in years. The ones I have are all cordless. They weight almost nothing, are VERY precise, and are available in a wide range of sizes and shapes so anybody can find one that feel comfortable. They pretty much all have a minimum of three buttons plus a scrollwheel, and most of them these days have at least 2 or three additional buttons. Many of them also have the ability to macro commands to the buttons and remap them how you want.
Compare that to 1968 when you basically had a brick with a rope attached that you pushed around your desk until you got lucky and the pointer landed somewhere close to where you wanted it. Then you would press your button several times in the hopes it might register a click, and end in frustration when you realize the cord had failed from being flexed too much. Which was a good thing, because if you didn't have to stop working for six weeks while waiting for the $200.00 replacement to arrive via US mail you'd end up with crippled hands.
Why do I get the feeling that someone is about to "unveil" some "new" kind of touch-based interface? (reads article) Ohhhhh, makes sense now.
I would like a cursor relocation device that turns my left nipple into a trackpoint interface.
...is better than moving the hand freely.
Personally, I want immediate cursor response. If it takes 50 ms to track my finger I'm out.
On se Internetz nobody noes your German.
Planning the next one are we Hans?
You know they won't let you out, right?
You cannot move half of the keyboard from your normal typing position.
Trackpoints work very well and without the need to put your hand off the keyboard. Some are hard to aim with but the trackpoints from Lenovo are awesome.
On se Internetz nobody noes your German.
Now I can finally use my dick for something useful!
The primary immediate issues, that make it unuseable for myself.
- I don't lift my fingers to click. I gently press. I don't want to have to start lifting.
- Latency.
- Awkward scrolling.
- Muscle tension from having to hold any part of my hand off the surface at any time.
- Lacks the other 5 buttons I use on my mouse.
The reason the mouse hasn't "changed" much in the last 20 years is because it works great.
"The true measure of a person is how they act when they know they won't get caught." - DSRilk
I'm waiting for someone to combine the evoMouse with the laserKeyboard from thinkgeek. Just add a dynamic texture mat (for textile feedback) and I'd be happy!
Their video shows that the evoMouse works as a keyboard with an 'optional mat' that takes the place of the laser projection.
RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
The tiny trackpads and screens on Netbooks is exactly why they suck.
couldn't the kinect do this?
I couldn't see a price, but this looks like it would fall under the "expensive gimmicky gadget" price range. At least with a kinect when you get bored of using it with a mouse, you can do something cool with it. I'm sure this would be either close to, or even more expensive than, the kinect.
New Paradigm: Vi key bindings for all navigation. Really, its great! Try some web browser addons for this, you'll see what I mean.
Just reading this article is making the tips of my fingers feel funny. What a horribly painful notion... rubbing my finger tips on a surface for 4-6 hours a day.
Monitor bandwidth usage on IIS6 in real-time: http://www.waetech.com/services/iisbm/
Thanks for the fantastic Three Amigos reference.
Sprained my right wrist and mouse use over the course of the day causes pretty bad pain, even with a stiff brace. I'd kill for that eyeball tracking "mouse" right now.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
it was from Iomega I think. It was a pen you could write with and it appeared on the screen. Cool idea, but the tracking was always skewed a bit so it was useless for drawing. If you drew a square it looked like a trapazoid. It'd be neat if they fixed this.
:D.
Now, what I'd kill for is a 'mouse' that kept me from having to leave home row
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Great article, and great product ;)
For the Dutch people who are reading this post, you can subscribe at the Dutch evoMouse website to stay updated.
Thanks
Yes, but moving the mat in/out of your work area is even worse than moving 1 hand over to the mouse. I'm talking about a texture mat that goes completely smooth in "mouse mode" then has raised areas when in keyboard mode.
There's a comment I don't understand. From one button to two button to three button + scroll wheel. From ball on the bottom to 2 separate rollers to ball on top (trackball). From optical trackball back to optical mouse (that was the order for optics). And now Magic Trackpad, which is IMHO better than any of those others.
Still changing? Sure. But unchanged? Hardly.
that wouldnt happen easily
maybe tiny bumps could work instead, ones not to big to get in the way but still noticeable
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