[clug] Could this be done today? 1968: Doug Englebart's NLS (oNLine System)

[steve jenkin]

Alex Osborne wrote on 17/9/08 5:57 PM:

There was once an nifty Australian 'chording' device (patented, too):

 - roughly the size and shape of an ergonomic mouse, IIRC
 - 5 keys, under tip of each finger/thumb
 - characters were 2-3 key combos
 - 20-30 wpm possible with a little pratice
 - left or right handed?? can't recall

That idea would translate to a Moko with switches :-)

But I think like the original idea, unlikely to take off.


> On 17/09/2008, at 10:43 AM, Jason wrote:
> 
>> My immediate thought when I saw his cool keyboard, 'this would be
>> perfect for a moko sized device', but then I realised no one over the
>> age of 5 could get 5 figures comfortably across the screen, maybe a 4
>> key option would work with a row of sticky keys above the 4 binary keys.
> 
> Ooooh, doing it actually on the device itself never occurred to me! 
> With the moko in my left palm,  four fingers on the screen, plus thumb
> on the AUX key sort of works.  You'd probably need something to strap it
> onto your hand though as it's a little tricky to hold it at the same time.
> 
>> Does the Neo Freerunner have a multi touch screen or am I going to
>> have to develop this on an iphone :P
> 
> Unfortunately, it's a bog standard capacitive touch screen if I remember
> correctly.  I think I read somewhere that it's possible to detect two
> presses (but rather inaccurately) with a bit of magic (possibly by
> making use of the pressure value).  This might be the trick that the
> touchpad on the Macbooks use to allow you right click by tapping two
> fingers on the touchpad instead of one.
> 
> But actually, glueing a set of switches down the side of the moko and
> figuring out some way to keep it your hand might work.  Perhaps a
> semi-elastic strap on the back that you put your fingers through would
> keep you from straining your fingers trying to hold the device and type
> at the same time.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex


-- 
Steve Jenkin, Info Tech, Systems and Design Specialist.
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