Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hazad 
I hadn't seen any posts about this, so I might as well start one. Essentially, someone attempted to recreate the basic GUI (graphic user interface; essentially your desktop is being re-invented) with which everyone is accustomed in order to remove the limitations of the single cursor. It's a neat idea and a decent way to waste 5mins watching a video.
www.vimeo.com/6712657
Thanks for posting this, it's very cool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
celery Well, it's about time really. This idea has been around for a long time, but no one has done it for the home computer (looking at you apple, microsoft, and the zillion linux variants). Apple has incorporated their iphone touch abilities on their laptop touchpads. You can scroll up/down, left/right, zoom in/out and right click (I think there's more but I can't remember them). Really, the entire keyboard needs to go bye-bye. One big flat area with pressure sensitivity and the ability to "press" into it (tactile feedback). This area should include a backlit display outlining keys and programmable buttons on the edges. And there should be a designated/or removable "mouse" area so that you can type and use the mouse at the same time. It's a shame at the end of his video that he had a concept drawing of a huge keyboard/two-handed mouse combination. What a clumsily idea at the end of an elegant look into the future of personal computing.
I don't know what he was thinking either. If he must leave a physical keyboard as part of the design, why doesn't he simply split the touch interface into 2 parts (one for the left hand, one for the right) and have them placed at either horizontal ends of the keyboard? Thinking about it however, I think the reason the keyboard is a separate item is that the haptic 'touch' pad is just that, a monotone touch-sensative pad with no graphical display (i.e. touch screen phone) .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
unjung There are many great ideas in GUI design that are thirty or more years old that have never been implemented. I am surprised they didn't put the keyboard on-screen though, like an iPhone. Tap somewhere to bring it up on the lower half of the screen, then any finger press is interpreted as typing. Touch two fingers outside the keyboard to hide the keyboard and go back to regular functionality. Or whatever works best.
This is a much better idea than the physical keyboard, and it would allow for more flexibility. One of the best things about touch-screens is the ability for complete customization. If the original BB Storm cell phone has taught us anything, is that a touch screen that moves up and down with every key pressed is not the best idea. Perhaps some sort of haptic / vibration when the touch-screen is in keyboard mode would be best. However, it would cost more to have a computer with what would essentially be 2 screens: a normal screen for viewing and a visible touch-screen for typing / finger control.
