Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!lll-winken!aunro!alberta!cdshaw From: cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.CA (Chris Shaw) Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: Touchscreens Message-ID: <1991Jun13.235714.17297@cs.UAlberta.CA> Date: 13 Jun 91 23:57:14 GMT References: <8435@awdprime.UUCP> <6460@ns-mx.uiowa.edu> Sender: news@cs.UAlberta.CA (News Administrator) Organization: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Lines: 50 In article rsw@cs.brown.EDU (Bob Weiner) writes: >Mount the screen in a desk at a slight upward angle. This means that you need a low-profile screen. A deep CRT won't make it, because you can't sit at your desk with your legs stretched out. >Some notebook computers will not >have a keyboard but will rely solely on a touchscreen and pen input. Certainly this is self-consistent. But, my handwriting is hard to read, and after a mere year of using text editors to enter the text of papers, I gave up composing on paper entirely. I don't want to go back. I have also lost a significant amount of hand fitness, which makes picking up handwriting even more of a chore. >> 2) No matter how good the anti-reflection coating on your screen is, >> fingerprints tend to defeat it. If you've got a touch panel, you'll >> need to wash it almost daily to keep the glare down. > >Find a nicely balanced pen-like object with a blunt end and use it. Holding a pen while typing is difficult. If you have to pick up something, pick up a mouse! >A number of touch screens do not actually require that their surface be >touched but humans seem to love to jam their fingertips forward. This is because constrained selection is easier than unconstrained selection. Using a 3D technique to select a 2D object is silly. The tactile feedback is useful, also. >My rule is that fingers should never touch a CRT, especially when >indicating a point on a screen to a friend. Everyone should learn this. Well, yes and no. I think everyone should at least select with their fingernails (back of hand facing screen). >Carefully contoured desktops with wrist supports and the screen embedded >in the desk can eliminate most of this fatigue. That's an awful lot of expensive, non-portable furniture, given a traditional output device like a CRT. >Bob Weiner rsw@cs.brown.edu -- Chris Shaw University of Alberta cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.ca Now with new, minty Internet flavour! CatchPhrase: Bogus as HELL !