A little crappy update: got shift regs, got caps and resistors, etching breakout boards during the weekend, and ready to program this FINALLY. I'm having some hardcore deadlines at work, so focusing on the electronics is haaaaard. Grinding docs and tutorials in the free time mostly so I can hit the ground running this Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed
reps in FIFO order, LONGPOST IS LOOOOOOOOONG:
@Zekromtor, re: software debouncingGonna do it this software way, at least attempt so if results allow.
@test321, re: switch feel, audibilityThey're nice. I enjoy them. They're clicky, not too loud, the cases resonates nicely. They are a little springy, but very lightly so. I'll be optimizing them in the later phases, got few ideas.
I peer reviewed this, people said it was satisfying, I observed they went on clicking this for a while, sensing it, enjoying themselves.
re:gaming, lagDon't know yet, electronics not complete. Will test it on gamer friends when ready and report on it.
re: mousesee below
re: scrollingI have a few ideas, but it largely depends on whether it's gonna have a trackpoint somewhere, or a mouse built in. I think that scrolling in modern devices is terribly lacking. 3d software solves this nicely, and I would like to replicate this effect.
re:additional buttonsI can't visualize this... could you please draw that, or illustrate in some way?
@Zekromtor, re: mouse not good, need to counter button press force with palmI haven't noticed this, the buttons are very light, and weight of the hand is enough to keep it stationary. It's much more comfortable than my RAT5 too. Though you can't use wrist to navigate, you need to use the whole arm.
Major con for this is that you need a desk or other surface to use it.
Trackball is possible, but you lose a piece of the hand rest, need to take fingers off homerow too.
Trackpoint is possible, but you have to take the hand off the homerow, it's also not very precise.
I'll make this modular and test.
@test321, re:picslater, it's dev time now
@nclu, re: turning it verticalYes, this is supported. Look at the long 'leaf' on the left side of the hand - it's used to rest it when in vertical position. I tested it a bit like that, and it works very well. Much more comfortable. You can tilt it about 80 degrees max, 45-60 is most comfortable for me.
@Turbinia, re:mouseI used my RAT5 with high DPI for quite a while for graphic design, the biggest issue was breaking through inertia from a full stop position. This really messes up precision on small start-stop movements. Would be awesome if not for that. But I have a few ideas, see below.
@arisian, re:navigating with keysI've researched into that, many people said that this feature didn't work very well, that it was implemented poorly. More below. About twitchiness, see above rep to Turbinia.
@matt2, re: trackballAhh, the L-trac! They seem awesome, wish I could lay a hand on one some day.
Look at the Conchi build thread for some switch overhaul on a Kensington. It's nice.
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70144.0Keys on this datahand-derivative are separate, so trackball can be placed instead of the hand rest.
Also thumb cluster can be thrown out on one of the hands to include a trackball.
I've got some stuff brewing trackball-wise, see the ball transfer unit trackball thread. Waiting for some time to finish it. Have a few surprises, but don't want to spoil until ready/checked
re: focus follows mouse, Linux, cursor-lockYES. Focus follows cursor FTW. Linux default at that, too, afair. I use dwm, Firefox with Vimperator, and Spacemacs. Excludes the need for mouse in most situations.
@test321, re: positive mouse accelYes, this sounds like a good idea. Or fluent DPI switching. Idk, will have to test.
re:u-shaped wrist/hand supportIt is u-shaped. There is a bone moving in the circled area, so you don't want the support to go all the way up. It supports the muscle that's below it comfortably. It almost 'grabs' your hand when you put it on the device, aligning it into position. Feels awesome imvho.
@Zekromtor, re: tape and skewersROFL! I've seen your setup on your blog, but not in that much detail, and not in this iteration, this is totally awesome!
I'm probably gonna core out a cheap mouse to test it, without modifying electronics.
I have to cut down the amount of awesome things that can be done to this design to actually FINISH IT. And soon.
@Ashmon, re: mouse as a layer/modeYes, it makes a lot of sense, especially if we can make the DPI/speed variable.
My thoughs on the pointing device:Mouse:PRO: getting a sensor into the device lets you do mouse nav without leaving 'home rows'.
PRO: you get a lot of precision and dynamics
CON: you need a desk and a surface.
Thought: Ever heard of those double-nipple IBM laptop prototypes? They used one for fast nav, and the other for precise nav, and you could combine them to be used at the same time... See where this is heading?
Trackball:PRO: You can navigate without any surface. Compact. Arm movements not necessary.
PRO: Good precision
CON: need to get the hand out of the 'home rows'.
CON: you lose a piece of your hand rest, needs to rest on the ball.
Thought: I don't like the thumb-trackballs, but you could swap the side cluster for a trackball.
Thought: Looking at the Conchi build thread, maybe the paradigm of the navigating half should be different at all?
Trackpoint:PRO: You can navigate on any surface
PRO: Hands on the home row if solved well. You can use two at the same time.
CON: Precision
Thought: Make the whole thing a one huge trackpoint in a mode/layer, so you can just tilt/change weight of your whole hand. Can easily be done with tensometers in the base. Better precision, but still far from mouse/trackball.
Keynav:(
http://www.semicomplete.com/projects/keynav)
PRO: hands on the home row
PRO: lots of large screens, here I come... no need to drag the cursor, you just tell it where to go with your keys.
PRO: Moves are REALLY fast.
PRO: Can be implemented in hardware, work cross-platform.
CON: latency increases with precision
CON: 3d software, graphics software - out of question?
Thought: lifesaver when using a lot of screens to quickly switch focus. Replaces the need for high speed movements, so the pointing device can focus on precision.
Thought: varying performance when used in games/software. Good for Starcraft, bad for Counterstrike?
Other thoughts:
Using the cursor rarely implies typing in the same time. Shortcuts are used mostly. So maybe a better way would be to add one of the single-handed typing functions (like chordability, or the Matias half keyboard function)?
Most of 'casual' mouse moves are already covered in software (tiling WMs, Keynav, Vim/Emacs, Vimperator addon for Firefox, etc), so the case we're dealing with here is heavy, constant mouse use in software where it's really necessary. So maybe the device should be designed in a way that takes into consideration this exact scenario, to minimize the need to remove the hand from the mouse, and facilitate shortcut accessibility with a single hand?