DailyDirt: It Turns Out People Want Keyboards... Until They Don't

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

We've seen plenty of different input devices, but it's pretty hard to displace the traditional keyboard and mouse combination. Touchscreens have their usefulness (but perhaps not on a 20" 4K display), and maybe someday gesture recognition will be more common outside of gaming. Ultimately, we're likely to see more and more options for how to best interact with various kinds of software, and that's a good thing. Here are just a few more examples of cool digital interfaces. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
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Filed Under: controller, crowdfunding, exoglove, exoskeleton, flow, gesture recognition, haptics, hmi, input devices, keyboard, mouse, newton, steve jobs, ui
Companies: dexta, indiegogo, kickstarter


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  • identicon
    Anon, 10 Dec 2014 @ 5:40pm

    Keyboards.

    So far nothing I have seen matches a keyboard. Touch screen is garbage.

    One thing I noticed is: it is very hard to find a normal keyboard (non flat, etc) that has white/offwhite keys with black letters anymore. These all black ones are fine but a lot harder to see under low light conditions..

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2014 @ 5:55pm

    Getting people to switch to something other than a keyboard is like trying to make people use Linux instead of Windows. They are used to it by now and even switching small parts(i.e. MS Office to Libre Office) is a huge step for some.

    So in my opinion even if there was a mind controlled keyboard(thought to text) it still would take time for people to accept it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 10 Dec 2014 @ 6:44pm

      Re:

      That could be interesting, though it would have it's own challenges. Instead of classes teaching typing, you'd have what would basically be meditation courses, teaching people to focus their minds and only let the 'right' thoughts through.

      Auto-correct is bad enough, imagine the kinda of insanity you'd get with a thought-to-text system without some way to filter all the extra, random stuff that runs through the mind out from what you're intending to 'type'.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2014 @ 7:11pm

        Re: Re:

        Auto-correct is bad enough, imagine the kinda of insanity you'd get with a thought-to-text system without some way to filter all the extra, random stuff that runs through the mind out from what you're intending to 'type'.

        Yeah sure, there had to be a "command" to activate it. Maybe you must think about writing or hitting the key of a keyboard or the color green, whatever. But without it texts might be interesting to read ^^

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2014 @ 8:25pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          User speaking:

          Computer, record this thought.

          No, not that one, never that one.

          No I meant too, not two.

          Where did you get that from?

          Come on now, we have been working together for 7 years, you should know by now that when I say Computer, Stop that means you stop recording.

          It is not your concern as to the layout of the article, as I am only asking you to turn thought into text.

          LEAVE MY SEX LIFE OUT OF THIS.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    simality (profile), 11 Dec 2014 @ 8:15am

    One of my better achievements this year....

    Learning to type on one of THESE.

    http://www.alphagrips.com/

    It was tough, but worth it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 11 Dec 2014 @ 2:47pm

    Fat fingers are my bane.

    So long as we have the fat fingers problem I'll prefer mouse and keyboard.

    Trackball, actually, since it doesn't go anywhere.

    But a full-sized keyboard, please, since I have large hands.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 12 Dec 2014 @ 8:40am

      Re: Fat fingers are my bane.

      "Trackball, actually, since it doesn't go anywhere."

      I remember back in the day about 1/3 of everyone I knew used a trackball instead of a mouse. Nowadays in my workplace (~100 engineers), I am the only one who has a trackball attached -- and the younger set of engineers literally don't know how to use it, so I attached a mouse in addition to the trackball in order to stop confusing colleagues who use my computer.

      I find this odd since a trackball is, in my opinion, a superior pointing device for a crowded and cluttered desk.

      "But a full-sized keyboard, please, since I have large hands."

      Speak the truth, brother.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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