There is another new device and method that uses finger and thumb mounted contacts for data input similar to earlier glove-based devices such as the KeyGlove by Paul Mc Carty, the Chording Glove by Rosenberg or Vaughan Pratt's glove which uses Thumb-Coding. However, in contrast to these and other existing hand-mounted CHORDING DEVICES for which the user has to learn a new coding language, the device proposed by me takes advantages of the users touch-typings skills which virtually eliminates any learning period for those familiar with touch-typing. The new device is also superior to other devices [detials see below *)] such as Senseboards Virtual Keyboard, the Lightglove or the system shown in the picture of the article to which this message responds. (A patent application for my device has already been submitted).
For more information please contact me directly at cmehring@eng.uci.edu, www.eng.uci.edu/~cmehring or visit www.tecideas.com for a short (I mean really short) article.
You also might be able to read more about my invention in upcoming issues of wireless magazine and MIT's Technology Review magazine.
*):
There are several points to make with regard to the superiority of my invention with respect to the devices you mentioned, i.e. the Lightglove and the Virtual Keyboard by Senseboard.
1) Production costs;
The technology involved in the virtual keyboard and the lightlove, and the associated production costs and costs for parts are significantly larger than the production costs for the device I proposed.
For example, the sensors used in the virtual keyboard measuring the flexure of the tendons have to be very sensitive in order to distinguish between different finger postitions. After all, finger movement within the virtual keyboard is not detected with sensors on the fingertips but by sensors fixed to the base of the fingers (using fingerless mittens).
The lightlove is based on the generation of a "light-matrix" below the users hands. Penetration and location of penetration of this matrix by the users fingertips is detected and electronically mapped to an overlay assigning each position a character according to the layout of a traditional keyboard. This operation of the device involves simulataneous scanning of the matrix with various light emitting diodes or lasers, evaluation of the scattered electromagentic waveforms by various lightsensitive detectors, signal filtering in a bandpass filter in order to reject non-correlated ambient signals (see Pat.# 6,097,374 at the uspto.gov homepage for more details). In fact the inventor of the lightglove R.B. Howard points out in his patent that in certain applications it might be desirable or necessary to use an input device other than an optical reflectance matrix.
The device proposed by me is based on exactly the same principles as a standard keyboard for data input, i.e. using the closure of electrical circuits in order to generate a signal which then is interpreted by an off-the-shelf keyboard controller as alphanumeric character input. Accordingly, my device will not be more expensive than a regular keyboard.
2) Device calibration / Decision electronics
Due to the fact that everybody's finger movement is slightly different, the virtual keyboard will have to contain some electronics in order to allow device or sensor calibration for the individual user. The same holds true for the lightlove where detector calibration is needed in order to accomodate various ambient lighting conditions. In fact, as ambient lighting conditions might change continually (for example in a subway) continuous calibration of the device will be needed.
The device and method proposed by me does not need any calibration. In fact, the use of the users fingers and thumbs (which have certain proportions for almost everybody) as placement locations for the electric contacts make the device usable for anybody with large or small hands long or short fingers. Assuming of course that the employed design (different from the glove design used for the proto-type) allows free placement of the mentioned contacts.
Both lightlove and virtual keyboard are based on continuous detection sensors (i.e. measuring a certain amount of tendon flexure or a certain strength of electromagnetic energy at the light-detector). The device I propose uses a discrete approach: a signal is generated if the electic circuit is closed (by contacting one finger with one of the contacts on the thumb of the same hand), if the circuit is not closed there is no signal generated (totally analogous to the traditional keyboard). The use of a "continuous signal detector" implies more attached "decision" electronics (and consequently production costs) as well as a higher probability for erroneous data input.
3) Comfort of use / erroneous data input
Imagine you are using the virtual keyboard or the lightglove at Starbucks and you stop typing for a moment to scratch your nose or to zip some coffee. In order to omit character input you would have to swith the unit off every time before doing just that. Now imagine you have allergies or you are a big coffee drinker like me, or you want to just move your fingers around for a moment because they got tired from all the typing....
In other words, while using the virtual keyboard or the lightglove you are very much restricted in the movement of your hands and fingers. This is not the case with the device I proposed: With it you can easily pick up anything without switching the unit off. (Assuming it is made of a conducting material of course.) With the virtual keyboard and the lightglove there is a well defined rest- or reference position or reference plane, with repsect to which all your finger movement is evaluated. In the case of the lightglove for example, the hand and the fingers have to be strechted out such that they do not penetate the lightmatrix below the hand. This might become very uncomfortable with time.
The device I propose does not have such a well-defined reference position. In fact your fingers and thumbs can be in any position as long as the fingertips (or possibly sides of the fingers, where contacts for special character input are located) do not touch the thumbs of the same hand.
Furthermore, the lack of tactile feedback when using the lightglove and the virtual keyboard (in the mode of "air-typing", i.e. without a solid surface to type on) will possibly slow down the rate of data input.
4) True or Ultra Portability (Virtual Keyboard only)
The main application of Senseboards Virtual Keyboard is its use in combination with a flat solid surface as reference surface. With this the device is not truly portable any more; you might as well use one of those flexible keyboards you can roll up. Just imagine you would like to type a letter sitting on a park bench or standing at a subway stop (i.e. situations where there is just no flat solid reference surface to type on). In those cases, I suppose, Senseboard proposes "air-typing" where you hold you finges in a resting position similar to a position the hands would be in when resting on a solid surface. However, it is questionable if a user will be able to preserve this position in the course of his typing action.
5) OTHER ULTRA-PORTABLE GLOVE BASED SYSTMS
As pointed out earlier, other ultra-portable glove-based or hand-mounted systems for data-input such as the KeyGlove (originally designed by R. Paul Mc Carty from Rochester University) , the Chording Glove (by Robert Rosenberg from University College of London) or Vaughan R. Pratt's (Stanford University) glove using the Thumb-code procedure are all CHORDING devices which do not take advantage of the users existing touch-typing skills.
Slashdot Mirror
There is another new device and method that uses finger and thumb mounted contacts for data input similar to earlier glove-based devices such as the KeyGlove by Paul Mc Carty, the Chording Glove by Rosenberg or Vaughan Pratt's glove which uses Thumb-Coding. However, in contrast to these and other existing hand-mounted CHORDING DEVICES for which the user has to learn a new coding language, the device proposed by me takes advantages of the users touch-typings skills which virtually eliminates any learning period for those familiar with touch-typing. The new device is also superior to other devices [detials see below *)] such as Senseboards Virtual Keyboard, the Lightglove or the system shown in the picture of the article to which this message responds. (A patent application for my device has already been submitted).
For more information please contact me directly at
cmehring@eng.uci.edu, www.eng.uci.edu/~cmehring
or visit www.tecideas.com for a short (I mean really short) article.
You also might be able to read more about my invention in upcoming issues of wireless magazine and MIT's Technology Review magazine.
*):
There are several points to make with regard to the superiority of my invention with respect to the devices you mentioned, i.e. the Lightglove
and the Virtual Keyboard by Senseboard.
1) Production costs;
The technology involved in the virtual keyboard and the lightlove, and the
associated production costs and costs for parts are significantly larger
than the production costs for the device I proposed.
For example, the sensors used in the virtual keyboard measuring the
flexure of the tendons have to be very sensitive in order to
distinguish between different finger postitions. After all, finger
movement within the virtual keyboard is not detected with sensors on
the fingertips but by sensors fixed to the base of the fingers (using
fingerless mittens).
The lightlove is based on the generation of a "light-matrix" below the
users hands. Penetration and location of penetration of this matrix by the
users fingertips is detected and electronically mapped to an overlay
assigning each position a character according to the layout of a
traditional keyboard. This operation of the device involves
simulataneous scanning of the matrix with various light emitting
diodes or lasers, evaluation of the scattered electromagentic waveforms by
various lightsensitive detectors, signal filtering in a bandpass filter in
order to reject non-correlated ambient signals (see Pat.# 6,097,374
at the uspto.gov homepage for more details). In fact the inventor
of the lightglove R.B. Howard points out in his patent that
in certain applications it might be desirable or necessary to use
an input device other than an optical reflectance matrix.
The device proposed by me is based on exactly the same principles as a
standard keyboard for data input, i.e. using the closure of electrical
circuits in order to generate a signal which then is interpreted by an
off-the-shelf keyboard controller as alphanumeric character
input. Accordingly, my device will not be more expensive than a regular
keyboard.
2) Device calibration / Decision electronics
Due to the fact that everybody's finger movement is slightly different,
the virtual keyboard will have to contain some electronics in order to
allow device or sensor calibration for the individual user. The same
holds true for the lightlove where detector calibration is needed in order to accomodate
various ambient lighting conditions. In fact, as ambient lighting
conditions might change continually (for example in a subway) continuous
calibration of the device will be needed.
The device and method proposed by me does not need any calibration. In
fact, the use of the users fingers and thumbs (which have certain
proportions for almost everybody) as placement locations for the electric
contacts make the device usable for anybody with large or small hands long or short
fingers. Assuming of course that the employed design (different from the
glove design used for the proto-type) allows free placement of the
mentioned contacts.
Both lightlove and virtual keyboard are based on continuous detection
sensors (i.e. measuring a certain amount of tendon flexure or a
certain strength of electromagnetic energy at the light-detector). The
device I propose uses a discrete approach: a signal is generated if the
electic circuit is closed (by contacting one finger with one of the
contacts on the thumb of the same hand), if the circuit is not closed
there is no signal generated (totally analogous to the traditional
keyboard). The use of a "continuous signal detector" implies more attached
"decision" electronics (and consequently production costs) as
well as a higher probability for erroneous data input.
3) Comfort of use / erroneous data input
Imagine you are using the virtual keyboard or the lightglove at Starbucks
and you stop typing for a moment to scratch your nose or to zip some
coffee. In order to omit character input you would have to swith the unit
off every time before doing just that. Now imagine you have allergies or
you are a big coffee drinker like me, or you want to just move your
fingers around for a moment because they got tired from all the typing....
In other words, while using the virtual keyboard or the lightglove you are
very much restricted in the movement of your hands and fingers. This is
not the case with the device I proposed: With it you can easily pick up
anything without switching the unit off. (Assuming it is made of a
conducting material of course.)
With the virtual keyboard and the lightglove there is a well defined
rest- or reference position or reference plane, with repsect to which all
your finger movement is evaluated. In the case of the lightglove for
example, the hand and the fingers have to be strechted out such that they
do not penetate the lightmatrix below the hand. This might become very
uncomfortable with time.
The device I propose does not have such a well-defined reference position.
In fact your fingers and thumbs can be in any position as long as the
fingertips (or possibly sides of the fingers, where contacts for special
character input are located) do not touch the thumbs of the same hand.
Furthermore, the lack of tactile feedback when using the lightglove and
the virtual keyboard (in the mode of "air-typing", i.e. without a solid
surface to type on) will possibly slow down the rate of data input.
4) True or Ultra Portability (Virtual Keyboard only)
The main application of Senseboards Virtual Keyboard is its use in
combination with a flat solid surface as reference surface. With this
the device is not truly portable any more; you might as well use one
of those flexible keyboards you can roll up.
Just imagine you would like to type a letter sitting on a park bench
or standing at a subway stop (i.e. situations where there is just no
flat solid reference surface to type on). In those cases, I suppose,
Senseboard proposes "air-typing" where you hold you finges in a
resting position similar to a position the hands would be in when resting
on a solid surface. However, it is questionable if a user will be able to
preserve this position in the course of his typing action.
5) OTHER ULTRA-PORTABLE GLOVE BASED SYSTMS
As pointed out earlier, other ultra-portable glove-based or hand-mounted systems
for data-input such as the KeyGlove (originally designed by R. Paul Mc Carty from Rochester
University) , the Chording Glove (by Robert Rosenberg from University
College of London) or Vaughan R. Pratt's (Stanford University) glove
using the Thumb-code procedure are all CHORDING devices which do not
take advantage of the users existing touch-typing skills.
Hope you enjoyed the reading