intro

Here's my first working prototype: The Nugget
I created this page in April 2006. i will leave it as I wrote it. //Samu Jan 08//

3 button ergonomic trackpoint mouse.

I've got bad RSI from mouse & kbd. I've looked around a lot and can't find good interfaces. Voice recognition & dataglove is the best I've found/used so far. A good interface would consist of:
 * 1) Eyeball tracker
 * 2) Voice recognition
 * 3) Hand held controller <-- this is what this wiki is for

=Shape= Squidge a lump of plasticine in your hand, smooth it out...

Here's some early plasticine prototypes for the shape.

As you can see, it's very comfy. Healthy ergonomics. No strain, no RSI, lots of buttons in easy reach.

Note
Add to this gyros for pitch, yaw, roll; accelerometers for xyz spatial location and a new UI (user interface), and we have a kicking controller.

( nb many people will not switch. kids who like playing games (or anyone who uses a computer and isnt scared of new things) should however like them. And in 15 years they may be using them in the office without a second thought. )

TrackPoints
Some of these buttons will be trackpoints. Trackpoints are wickid -- they are pressure and direction sensitive and respond to anything between a soft push and a really hard one. no moving parts. ideal. This is what I'm using: (I get the units out of dud ibm thinkpad t40 laptop keyboards)

I have managed to wire one of these into the ps2 port...

Insulated, wrapped in plasticine, and coated in latex, it works as a very nice 3 button ergonomic mouse. I'm calling it a Nugget. (My uncle suggests spud).



Design process is here.

The next hurldle is feeding many into the computer at once. (starting with 3).