Thumbnail track pad | Hacker News Reader

Thumbnail track pad

newsoffice.mit.edu

64 pointsub23 comments

Touch your inner ring finger with your thumb.

That's the place to put it, and it could be sold as, you know... a ring, instead of a giant fake fingernail that makes it look like you had your thumb surgically replaced with a big toe.

What I'd really like to see is a novel mobile method of text entry. The first company to sell something that lets you efficiently type on the go without involving a tiny QWERTY keyboard is going to really make a difference in how we use tiny devices.

I've always wondered if it would be effective to try and determine virtual letter presses based on subtle "air typing" finger movements tracked with accelerometers or something. I might be willing to don goofy bluetooth fingernails for that kind of functionality...

> That's the place to put it

Won't work for cooking or any other activity that involves grabbing things. Though I guess you can work around this by requiring something like a long/firm-press on the ring to put it into the tracking mode.

"instead of a giant fake fingernail " This is V1. This could be as thin as a thick layer of nail polish.

https://nod.com

This looks like exactly what you are looking for.

Sorry for sounding like a shill for this comment.

as far as typing on silly surfaces, minnum has personally had my eye the most. tl;dr make the keyboard 1 dimension, and then use excessive prediction to correct the issues with that.

combining that with a watch with a distance sensor (up along the arm), you then would have a keyboard and trackpad in the space of a watch. http://minuum.com/future-of-wearable-typing/ for explanation

I think calling it a track pad is probably the wrong angle - It makes it seem like you should be able to use it with the same fidelity as a regular trackpad.

Consider it as a completely new input device. Time for the UX designers of the world to make it something special. I like it a lot.

"Let's say that today I wanna very subtly change the color of an accessory that I'm wearing when I enter or exist a certain social scenario"

This puts a smile on my face... but come on, there must be better uses. Surely touching the accessory is easier. Also, the lettuce stirring while scrolling seems like a problem that is most easily solved by speech recognition. It's not that I don't like the idea but if it is that hard to come up with a situation where it is the one and only, superior interface... Perhaps someone will think of it...

> but come on, there must be better uses.

Controlling devices like Google Glass comes to mind.

might be nice with a VR headset to control something that is a more passive experience

I can feel the RSI already. I was excited that this might have been a weird hybrid between a mouse and a trackpad where the tracking surface goes on your fingertip, and everything becomes a trackpad.

Right, a thimble?

I'd want it out of the way for typing and other tasks.

The thumbnail is probably a good place to mount because it's not touching skin for long periods of time, or blocking the pad of fingers.

I'd test a pointing stick "eraser" or a trackball of some sort (because capacitive touchpad style won't work on everything) on the fingernail tip.

Interesting, love the idea of small track pads. One issue that I immediately thought of though with it on your thumb is damage to the nail bed. As far as I understand it, pressure on the nail and the part of the thumb behind the nail can lead to nail deformities. Might be a bad place for repetitive use.

This is obviously very cool. My one thought is that it would be very hard for children to use. It's important to consider adoption from a wide audience.

just tried putting my index finger on the far side of my thumbnail; not at all "unobtrusive" from a comfort perspective, imo.

I'm not having any difficulty; if it were thin enough, I don't think I'd mind at all.

My concerns are with the precision.

My concerns are with the impedance mismatch between the touchscreen model and the trackpad model. It does not look straightforward to me to use a current touchscreen UI through this. Having this as a different input mode from touchscreen would ensure its failure.

I'm not sure what you mean. Can you elaborate?

I think he's saying that the shape of the nail is different than the shape of your computer's trackpad, making this awkward to use.

The idea would be, if you find that difficult you could use your alternate hand.

I agree that replacing a mouse or trackpad with this control interface would be a bad idea b/c accurate control would be difficult.

However, it would be great for basic gestures (think iOS Remote.app for AppleTV).

I suspect people would end up getting a lot of repetitive stress injuries from such a device if used with one hand as pictured.

If so then just move it to a natural position. For example in a nostril.

I'm really interested in this type of tech but don't have any experience with electronics. Could a project like this realistically be completed by an amateur enthusiast?

Wow, that's a great idea - but why not use the opposite side of the thumb - as if you are putting salt on things - imagine if you were having it there.

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