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From: ucbesvax.turner@ucbcad.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Re: mice, pens, and graphics - (nf)
Message-ID: <1070@ucbcad.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 18-Dec-83 01:44:16 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbcad.1070
Posted: Sun Dec 18 01:44:16 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Dec-83 02:05:55 EST
Sender: notes@ucbcad.UUCP
Organization: UC Berkeley CAD Group
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#R:umcp-cs:-429100:ucbesvax:25800004:000:1175
ucbesvax!turner    Dec 11 15:44:00 1983

Re: whole-arm motion for mouse, vs. stylus

net.works had some discussion a while back about a "5-speed mouse",
which is a hack to the mouse driver that makes rate of cursor motion
more than proportional to rate of mouse motion.  So, for example, a
wrist-snap could send the cursor flying off to far corners of the
screen.  Slower motions would give detail.

Not sure that I'd want this feature for a hand-written character-
recognizer, but then I wouldn't want a mouse for that anyway.
Presumably, this feature could be turned on and off.  The only
commercial offering I've heard of (in net.works) was from one of
the LISP machine companies.

This is off the subject, but I once saw a neat gimmick in a hospital:
a stylus arrangement that converted handwriting on a pad to handwriting
in a remote room, apparently so that doctor's prescriptions could be
communicated instantly to the pharmacy, saving patient's and doctor's
time.  I think it was all analog circuitry.  Kind of Rube Goldberg,
but interesting.  (Of course, considering the proverbial opacity of
doctors' handwriting, one wonders just how great this invention was.)
---
Michael Turner (ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner)