::scr Dressing up the computer

[Piers Cawley]

Chris Heathcote <chris.list@unorthodoxstyles.com> writes:

> on 8/3/02 3:17 pm, Simon Wistow wrote:
>
>> However every new interface that people have tried has always been some
>> variation on WIMP - Windows, Icons, Mouse and Pointer. Even things like
>> Lifestreams or the various 3D interfaces.
>
> Are mice really that good a way of choosing? They seem to give people RSI
> more than keyboards... why haven't touch screens become prevalent? Or light
> pens? I haven't seen a light pen since the ZX Spectrum. There always seems
> to be a lot of academic research into alternative input devices, but these
> appear to have gone nowhere.

I confess that the thing that appeals to me would be screen + keyboard
+ gaze tracking + pie menus (as seen in The Sims). If the gaze point
+ remains in one place, and the keyboard is inactive (or possibly if a
+ menu activation key is held down), pop up the appropriate context
+ sensitive pie menu. Look at the right option, hit a key (or click
+ your tongue or something)...

For apps that + needed it (photoshop etc) you'd have a pressure
sensitive tablet.

Not sure what the state of the gaze tracking art is though. Andy ought
to know, Canon sell high end SLR cameras with 'eye control'.

-- 
Piers

   "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a language in
    possession of a rich syntax must be in need of a rewrite."
         -- Jane Austen?