Friday, July 29, 2005

Hot weather, hot product

It's very very VERY hot today. The temperatures should reach over 38 degress Centigrade (which is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit). One interesting side-effect is that the air is so hot and humid that my Fingerworks touchpad has problems operating (because of the sweat on my fingers even with airconditioning turned to max)!

Fingerworks touchpads allow you to control your computer (Windows, Linux or Mac) using the gestures reminiscent of those in Minority Report movie (although not in the air but on the touchpad surface). It can replace both your mouse and keyboard and requires no software drivers whatsoever (the unit itself generates the keyboard and mouse events and is very customizable). Unfortunately, when I wanted to link to the Fingerworks homepage, I found out the company has gone out of business!

That's sad. I've been using their Fingerworks Mini for several years, it makes my work tremendously easy and I really cannot imagine what I'll do when it breaks down eventually... :( I'll have to look for another cool device.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You really use it?! Could you possibly post some video?

František Fuka said...

It's really exactly as shown in the animations on their site (except in reality, you do it much faster after you get accustomed to the gestures). Or have a look at Minority Report, some of the gestures are exactly similar (except that you do it on the pad surface, not on in the air). It's important not to confuse this with standard touchpad. Fingerworks reacts to SLIGHTEST touch (you don't have to apply any force) and EACH touching finger is exactly recognized, including the force of the press. For example, the speed of key auto-repeat can be controlled by the force of your press.

František Fuka said...

AFAIK, Fingerworks pads are still readily available, e.g. on amazon.com. Now when they've gone out of business, their products may actually be real bargains. And because they have no movable parts, it can last almost forever. I am seriously tempted to buy spare one right now.