Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
TactaPad Puts Your Hands In The Digital World
TactaPad lets you put your hands right into the digital world, allowing you to manipulate objects on the screen as easily as possible. The ability to use your hands directly, and see the "shadow" of your hands fall across your virtual domain, means that there are fewer new skills to acquire, as opposed to the use of tools like a mouse or stylus.
(TactaPad and the shadow of the user)
TactaPad makes use of your "muscle memory" - your hand's ability to find an object without conscious thought or even direct sight - by mapping each point on the screen to a point on the touchable surface. Onscreen objects stay in the same place, making it easier for you to find them again.
The TactaPad surface is designed to provide your hands with tactile feedback from the application itself; a disabled pick on the screen "feels" stiff, while a successful button press provides a fall-through sensation. Two-handed use is also supported, allowing the user to grab hold of specific elements of an application environment.
(See and manipulate objects with TactaPad)
TactaPad is a prototype unit, but the designers believe that it could be made available for $1,000 or less per unit. The device connects with a USB cable; drivers for Windows and OS X are in development. Specific kinds of tactile feedback will require support from application developers.
This device seems almost like a virtual "glove box," a clear plastic box with gloves projecting into the interior, that is often used when handling dangerous or sterile materials in research and industry. Fans of the film Minority Report will appreciate the hands-on interface.
Find out more at the Tactiva website.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/14/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Input ")
TactaPad Puts Your Hands In The Digital World
TactaPad lets you put your hands right into the digital world, allowing you to manipulate objects on the screen as easily as possible.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
Can Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Control The Weather?
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
SETI Suggests Prospecting The Solar System Without Landing
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
Wolfram Alpha Mathematica Predicted by Science Fiction in 1948!
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
Cislunar Space And The Space Lanes of Golden Age Science Fiction
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
NASA Moonbase Update
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
Neuralink Will Allow Humans To Communicate With ... Animals?
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
Special Lights For Driverless Cars!
'That light is actually the Anamorphic Equalizer...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Harrison Bergeron, Illustrated And Practiced
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'Maybe The Woman Of Your Life Is Still Under Production'
'The Dillard people had performed a miracle and put all the works in a girl-modeled case.'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
