Want a look at how Microsoft envisions what it dubs Mouse 2.0? A Microsoft hardware research team recently released a paper and video showcasing five different multi-touch mouse implementations that explore different touch sensing strategies, including those optimized for 3-D interaction.
The prototypes, still in the early concept stage, attempt to enrich the standard, desktop mouse and pointer-based desktop interactions with touch and gestures picking up on the multi-touch capabilities ushered in by Windows 7. The FTIR (Frustrated Total Internal Reflection) prototype, as Microsoft researchers explain it, is “based on a common technique for enabling multi-touch input on interactive surfaces.” The technique leverages a sheet of acrylic and the principle of FTIR to illuminate a user’s fingers and it employs an infrared camera to track the different points of touch. The Orb Mouse, “equipped with an internal camera and source of diffuse infrared light,” tracks the user’s hand across the “hemispherical surface,” and with its larger sensing interaction area, it lends itself to gamers, who need the whole hand to be engaged, the Microsoft paper says.
The Cap Mouse design is novel in that the device includes a true multi-touch sensor, which lets it simultaneously track the locations of all of the user’s fingers on the surface of the mouse. The Side Mouse, designed to rest under the user’s palm, senses when the fingers touch the table surface directly-not the mouse. Microsoft researchers say this approach lets the input space be larger than the physical bounds of the input device.
It’s the last mouse prototype, the Arty Mouse, that has potential to change the way users do 3-D manipulation. Pushing the Side Mouse concept a bit further, this prototype has the palm rest on the base of the device while two extended “arms can freely and independently move on the table by the thumb and index finger.” Researchers say the multi-touch mouse prototypes open up additional designs of freedom (DOFs) that are more intuitive for 3-D manipulations. They have demonstrated the use of the Arty Mouse with the SolidWorks CAD tool, leveraging the additional articulated sensors for added 2DOF, allowing both cursor control and 3-D camera manipulation.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
The push to achieving more intelligent, integrated manufacturing is putting a strong focus on networking and connectivity as key enabling technologies.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
