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Tactiva offers unique input device

tactapadOne button? No. Two buttons? No. Touch-sensitive technology hidden underneath a plastic shell?  Again, no. Have you ever wanted to ditch the mouse entirely, grab hold of your icons, files and folders and move them around manually? I mean, we naturally hold and manipulate objects with our hands. If you've ever wished for a similar experience when working on your computer, then take a look at the TactaPad by Tactiva.

This incredible device combines a camera with a touch-sensitive, responsive (it moves vertically as you push against it) surface that puts a translucent overlay of your hands on your display. Touch the TactaPad surface, and a cursor appears underneath your "finger" on the screen. Drag and drop, open and close applications and windows...all by "touching" them. It's really an intriguing idea. Watch the video demonstrations to get a better idea of how this works. I'd really like a chance to play with one of these.

What's really cool is you can have two active cursors at once. If you're manipulating an object in an image editing application, for example, you can "grab" opposite corners at once to turn it, resize it, flip it or relocate it on the screen.

Now before you whip out your checkbook and toss that Mighty Mouse into the trash can, I'll give you the bad news. The TactaPad isn't in production...yet. Tactiva is currently looking for a company to license the technology and bring the product to market. They expect the retail price to be in the neighborhood of $1000US. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I think it's a very cool idea.
 

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Hardware OS

One button? No. Two buttons? No. Touch-sensitive technology hidden underneath a plastic shell?  Again, no. Have you ever wanted to...
 

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wheels

What Dave really meant to say is that he wrote that at midnight, in between marathon, brain-frying sessions of "Glider"! I can relate! =)

August 30 2005 at 4:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jonathan

Worth a star, though, isn't it? :-o You should see some of the mistakes I spotted last week proofing my first book. I'm afraid I did far worse... There should be a law against people writing after 10pm!

August 30 2005 at 4:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dave Caolo

Ok, I edited the title. I regret the error. Give me a break, I wrote that at midnight! :p

August 30 2005 at 3:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jonathan

A pedant writes: 'Very unique'? As opposed to just plain old 'unique'? Wow... Ah, tautology - don't you just love it? ;-)

August 30 2005 at 3:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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