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A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

mokibo.com

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Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#61

Post by modeless »

aasasd wrote: post #50
modeless wrote: post #41

A while ago when I was doing a lot of VR I wanted something like this so I could see where my hands were touching the keyboard while wearing a VR headset. Hand trackers aren't precise enough for that, and video passthrough also isn't great for various reasons. Add a Vive tracker to this and you could potentially use it fairly naturally in VR.

Sounds like touch typing is for you. It's even called “blind typing” in some languages.

I am a touch typist. But not for every key on the keyboard. But more importantly, touch typing doesn't help you position your hands when moving them from something else to the keyboard.

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#62

Post by innocentoldguy »

bluedino wrote: post #52
innocentoldguy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nice to see a differing point of view. For me, Trackpoints are the number one reason I don't buy Thinkpads. I cannot stand those things. Trackpads, especially those on Mac products, have a lot more functionality.

Couldn’t you just remove it?

If you remove the rubber nub, you still have a little plastic joystick poking out of the center of your keyboard. Also, the trackpads on Thinkpads are pretty worthless when compared to offerings by other manufacturers.

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#63

Post by mncharity »

For proximity and 3D, there's also the not-yet-released Tactual PRISM keyboard[1] with depth sensing.

And optical tracking.[2] Though that last millimeter of "is it actually touching or not quite" is hard to do without hardware support from the keyboard.

[1] https://vimeo.com/258421095 http://www.tactuallabs.com/ [2] https://frl.nyu.edu/multi-touch-with-realsense-camera/

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#64

Post by seba_dos1 »

dogma1138 wrote: post #40
seba_dos1 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? If it's done in any sensible way, it should simply show up as a HID device and work pretty much everywhere.

Because these types of trackpads need special drivers these days e.g. windows precision drivers. Even basic things like palm rejection is done in software and for this one to switch between keyboard and trackpad in the fly you’ll need very good software that can predict just what you were intending to do.

Most "windows precision" touchpads are handled in Linux with just one module. Even Apple's Magic Trackpad can show up in system as a regular mouse (although with limited functionality).

Palm rejection is a thing that kinda makes sense to handle in software. For this thing, I'd expect firmware to be actually a bit beefer than usual.

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#65

Post by dkersten »

RandallBrown wrote: post #56
dkersten wrote: post #47

If only it were multitouch, then it'd be ideal for the 10gui concept: http://10gui.com/ But... I hate laptop-style keyboards and can't see myself moving back after switching to mechanical keyboards, if I can at all help it.

It is multitouch. They demonstrate two fingered scrolling and pinch to zoom.

I suppose I should have been more specific and said ten-finger multitouch.

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#66

Post by mncharity »

sathomasga wrote: post #58

Anyone else notice the copyright on the web site is 2012? Presumably just a bad copy-and-paste, but weird nonetheless.

> copyright on the web site is 2012?

Given the many abandoned companies in HID space, I checked... Wayback Machine has the web site as new in 2019.

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#69

Post by fxfan »

Does anybody here use keynav?

I have been a ThinkPad user all my life but the trackpoint hurt my fingers (like another commented here)

Mouse and trackpad need a switch.

I like keynav but its slow and I'm wondering if with prqctise I will actually get somewhere or will forever remain slow?

Re: A Touchpad Embedded Keyboard

#70

Post by kristopolous »

fermentation wrote: post #45
pintxo wrote: post #42

I don't get it. The "keep your fingers on the keyboard and use the mouse" thing has been solved ages ago with the trackpoint [1]. It's the number one reason for me not to buy a MacBook. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick

The trackpoint on my x220 was very convenient, but it really hurt my fingers.

You need to edit the sensitivity, on Linux this is done with synclient. The defaults can be ridiculous and absurdly bad. They quite arguably aren't right for anyone on the planet... Don't know why it ships like that (baseline usability shouldn't necessitate customization).

Also there's different concavity nibbles and people have very religious-like preferences for one style over another so I won't disclose my persuasion ... There's really really cheap variety packs to find out yours (like < $3 shipped)

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