D from BC said:
D from BC <
[email protected]> hath wroth:
I just noticed mouse pens on E*bay.
There's 2 videos on Y*utube on mouse pens.
Use keyword "mouse pen".
So I checked out my local power user computer store and...no mouse
pens.
Anybody using a mouse pen?
It looks like a good idea..
It's not. I've used one and sold a few. Most of my customers were
not happy. Several problems:
1. You have to hold the pen at exactly the correct angle for it to
work.
2. The tiny ball at the tip is easily coated with dust, dirt, grease,
sweat, and goo. The larger mouse and tackballs do the same thing, but
to a lesser degree due to the much larger surface area.
3. The tiny ball has very little traction on most materials due to
minimal contact area. A larger ball has the same problem, but works
much better due to a larger footprint.
4. The attached cord is like dragging an anchor chain. It's not much
of a problem with a larger or heavier mouse, but with a very light
pen, the cord drag feels excessive. [snip]
Tiny ball?
Yep. I don't have it any more or I would post a photo. Piece of
junk. However, that was perhaps 8 years ago. Wireless and an optical
pickup eliminates solves three of the problems. Holding the pen at
the exact correct angle is still a problem.
These mouse pens I saw are optical, however corded..
Not really a pen but close...more like a different mouse form.
Well, if you glue a handle on a conventional mouse, that's the result.
I'm not sure it's much of an improvement, and certainly useless for
drawing, sketching, and painting.
This one is wireless and more penlike.
There are sellers on E*ay.
However, it's bulky due it's battery.
That wasn't much of a video clip. I barely saw the device as most of
the video demonstrated problems with a conventional mouse. This is
the product:
While digging up those links I discovered...
a video of a demo of a Wacom tablet as a mouse replacement.
Yeah! This is what I'm thinking about..
I think this might be great for PCB and schematic work.
Maybe. Everyone has their own preferences. I like to separate the
cursor positioning and drawing functions. For cursor, I like a big
trackball. That's because it's always in exactly the same place on my
messy desk. I don't have to look at it to determine orientation or
location. Just reach, and it's there when I need it. Since the
cursor is a relative position device, I don't have to worry about
calibration or running off the edge of the pad.
For input, I like a digitizer pad and cordless pen. Small and light
do I'm not tempted to develop a death grip on the device. This one is
an absolute positioner, so that the digitizer pad has to be about the
same size as the screen. It can be smaller, but then the cursor
action tends to become twitchy.
Incidentally, I was watching a class full of prospective graphic
artists doing battle with Adobe Illustrator. By watching how they
worked, I could predict with a fair degree of accuracy, which students
were going to throw the mouse or pen across the room. The ones that
had to look at the mouse before using it, were doing badly. Those
that had adequate hand eye coordination did not need to look at the
mouse, pen, pad, keyboard, or whatever.
This pen is interesting... based on positioning with IR and
ultrasonics.
Home:
http://www.navisis.com/ENGLISH/02_tech/principle_navisis.php?tmenu=02
Nice idea. I don't have room for it on my messy desk. It's probably
also not practical with a laptop in the field.
Over the years, I've blundered into various experimental ways of
moving the cursor around the screen. This was mostly from dealing
with handicapped computer users. Here's one that uses a USB camera to
view head position to move the cursor:
<
http://www.cameramouse.org>
I've tried it and it does work. However, it was only suitable for
coarse work (menu picking) and not drawing.
Long ago, I built a "foot mouse". Basically, it was a wooden brick,
with 4 spring loaded caster balls, plus one in the middle driving a
pair of shaft encoders. Stomp on the foot mouse and it generates a
mouse click. It worked so-so. The problem was that it had to be
correctly oriented or the cursor would move at an angle on the screen.
A guide box for the food solved that problem, but was awkward to use.
Somewhat later, I built a "chair mouse". This was an adaptation of
the common swivel office chair to act as a mouse. Swivel left or
right and the cursor move horizontally. Rock back and forth, and it
goes up and down. Two buttons on the arm rests simulate the mouse
buttons. It worked fairly well but did require a bit of tinkering to
calibrate it. I sold the chair and design in about 1994.
My favorite total failure was trying to input a mechanical drawing
into Autocad 2000 using a joystick and later a joystick based
automobile streering yoke. Given sufficient inspiration (free dinner)
and immunity to frustration, it can be done.
Some ideas:
But the ultimate setup for PCB and schematic work might be with
something like this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PSBwiBUgGM&feature=related
I'd hate to see the price tag..
Nice, but where do I put my coffle mug?
It also reminds me of cutting rubylith with a swivel knife on a light
table to make PCB's. Oh my aching back.
More on the Conoto graphics tablet:
http://www.officeoftomorrow.org
More video clips:
<
http://www.officeoftomorrow.org/index.php?id=12>
Wacom Cintiq. About $2,500 list:
http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2988JsS9tQk