A Motion-Sensing Keyboard • Hacker News Board

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#51

Post by FajitaNachos » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:38 AM UTC

melling wrote: post #24

FajitaNachos wrote: post #18

I've been messing around with a Leap Motion device lately, and while I was initially skeptical, there are some actions which are genuinely more pleasant than using a keyboard alone. Sure, it may not be ideal for everyday computing, but it can be great for specific scenarios. Think a presentation, or something that has less frequent interactions than surfing the web.

The enthusiasm for Leap Motion seems to have faded. The company had layoffs recently. Are they still actively improving the software?

The most recent commit to leapjs on GitHub was 7 days ago, and Wikipedia says they raised $30 million in January of 2013. Take that for what it's worth, but as far as I know they are doing just fine.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#52

Post by m_mueller » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:43 AM UTC

MS is putting a lot of emphasis hand gesture recognition since their Kinect 'surfaced'. Meanwhile they're still quite behind Apple when it comes to touchpads. I wonder whether it will pay off in the future - I for one would quite like a surface type tablet with this sort of keyboard such that one doesn't have to lift his hand for gestures.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#53

Post by felideon » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:54 AM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #41

I can already feel the keys scraping uncomfortably against my fingers.

I actually like the feeling and I do it when I pause my typing to think.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#54

Post by owenversteeg » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:57 AM UTC

This looks very similar to the Leap Motion. Both use infrared sensing, although they seem to use it in different ways. I think the setup in the video could probably be recreated using a Leap Motion integrated into the spacebar or other keys. I'm curious to see what they'll do with it (whether it'll actually become a product.)

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#55

Post by ChuckMcM » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:57 AM UTC

Well this is interesting. A while back I got a motion sensor to try some of this on. My current keyboard[1] was originally designed for the Thinkpad laptops/computers and has the joystick between the GHB cluster. The mouse buttons are below the space bar. That can speed somethings up by the track pad on the Macbook is much more expressive. In terms of full disclosure though I do tend to collect obscure HCI devices (like the Microsoft Commander if you remember that one!)

[1] Model M13 in black

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#56

Post by dang » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 1:59 AM UTC

Buge wrote: post #4

I guess "mechanical" doesn't mean the same thing here as it usually does when referring to keyboards.

Fair point. We took "mechanical" out of the title.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#57

Post by necubi » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 2:04 AM UTC

rjd wrote: post #29

pbnjay wrote: post #2

I find it amusing that they used an Apple keyboard... Then again the chiclet style keys seem to be a big factor in the build.

... umm.. because its white? and every thats white is Apple? If you actually look at it you'll see its a not printed anything like an Apple keyboard, the letters are offset for one, they are centered on Apple keyboards, and has Windows keys.

It's definitely an Apple keyboard (look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3dUeGNIX4M&feature=youtu.be... — the command key is clearly visible), albeit an old one.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#58

Post by novaleaf » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 2:10 AM UTC

all well and good, but Microsoft refuses to let users of the Microsoft Natural Ergonomics Keyboard 4000 to swap the middle "Zoom" to "Scroll"... so I don't see how Msft PM's will let this fulfill it's promise.

PS: the Keyboard drivers ship with key remapping software, they just don't let you remap the zoom, though if a user is willing to hack the config they can do it manually :(

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#59

Post by apunic » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 2:10 AM UTC

The Surface's Touch Cover has these gestures too.

Re: A Motion-Sensing Keyboard

#60

Post by evv » Wed, Apr 30, 2014, 2:11 AM UTC

kraemate wrote: post #37

What can this do that cant be done with a keyboard shortcut?

Positional controls, like for adjusting the location or rotation of an element on the screen. It's hard to imagine somebody doing 3D animation or advanced audio editing using only keyboard shortcuts, but it could be feasible with this device.

However, their video seemed to focus on gestures only. I'm not sure why they aren't demoing it for positional controls- maybe they haven't exactly figured it out yet.

I'm really excited about this and from now on I'm going to have troubles not thinking about it every time my hand moves from my keyboard to my mouse.