frank@dciem.UUCP (Frank Evans) (04/25/86)
a I have seen advertisements for an ocular or eye controlled cursor device. I cannot recall the product's name but it cost about $200. I would kike to know if anyone used this product and how well does it work? 1) Is it faster than a nimble mouse? 2) Is it as accurate as a mouse ie can place the cursor easily in between letters?? 3) Does it cause eye strain or eye fatigue?? 4) Does it alaways have to be readjusted after a few minutes of use?? ie. does the cursor drift from where you are normally looking? 5) Is it compatable with most if not all software?? 6) Does one get a stiff neck from it?? 7) Is it worth the price?? 8) Are there any third party vendors?? I would deeply appreciate feedback from people who have used this product!! Thank You!
hansen@mips.UUCP (04/28/86)
> I have seen advertisements for an ocular or eye controlled cursor device. I > cannot recall the product's name but it cost about $200. > > I would like to know if anyone used this product and how well does it work? I recently attended a course in which we investigated this and other pointing devices, from the standpoint of accuracy and speed. I do not have a specific reference on the device, which was actually a "head tracker" that was controlled by head movements, rather than eye movements. It is highly unlikely that an "eye tracker" could be built for a sell price within an order of magnitude of $200. > 1) Is it faster than a nimble mouse? No. > 2) Is it as accurate as a mouse ie can place the cursor easily in between > letters?? No. > 7) Is it worth the price?? No. The group that tested this device contacted the manufacturer prior to testing, and was advised that the device was intended only for rather gross pointing maneuvers. They observed an extremely long learning curve that continued beyond a full day of use, which ran contrary to manufacturers claims that a half-hour or less was required to gain proficiency with the device. Even after a full days training, the device was not faster than a mouse, even for gross pointing, even considering its "hands-free" mode of operation. As an aside, other devices tested included teflon pads for the underside of a mouse, pads to run a mouse on, trackballs, joysticks, and the effects of scaling between mouse and cursor movement. Everything tested was worse, or was not statistically better, than the standard mac mouse. In particular, the use of the "proportional control," (setting of (1) next to the mouse icon on the control panel) generally decreased performance on several tasks we measured. Overall, the tests indicated that user preference for these gadgets was not well-correlated with user performance. Does anyone out there have a "foot mouse?" We didn't have any luck finding one for the tests. It's yet another alternative for those looking for hands-free pointing devices. -- Craig Hansen | "Evahthun' tastes MIPS Computer Systems | bettah when it ...decwrl!mips!hansen | sits on a RISC"
mkr@mmm.UUCP (MKR) (05/02/86)
In article <458@mips.UUCP> hansen@mips.UUCP (Craig Hansen) writes: A buncha stuff about the head-tracker mouse substitute. >> 1) Is it faster than a nimble mouse? >No. >> 2) Is it as accurate as a mouse ie can place the cursor easily in between >> letters?? >No. >> 7) Is it worth the price?? >No. > More stuff about the device's deficiencies. > >Craig Hansen | "Evahthun' tastes I have to agree with you overall, but I would like to point out one thing - I have a friend who broke his neck years ago and is paralyzed from the neck down as a result. He can't move or feel anything below his neck, including his arms. For him the device, coupled with a blow-tube for "clicking" would be *very* helpful. He progams computers now, but unfortunately he's using IBM PC's and VT100-VT200's on Vaxen. When he gets around to the Mac, I'm sure he'll be pleasantly surprised. I have another friend who is also paralyzed, except that he has some use of his arms (but not his hands). He does have a Mac and uses the standard mouse. I tried to show him how a trackball could be better, but when I watched him try it, I had to agree that the mouse was better. For him, the mouse is still better than that head-thing, but you can bet the salesman tried to sell him one. --MKR
mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (05/03/86)
>> I have seen advertisements for an ocular or eye controlled cursor device. I >> cannot recall the product's name but it cost about $200. >> >> I would like to know if anyone used this product and how well does it work? > >I recently attended a course in which we investigated this and other >pointing devices, from the standpoint of accuracy and speed. I do not have >a specific reference on the device, which was actually a "head tracker" that >was controlled by head movements, rather than eye movements. It is highly >unlikely that an "eye tracker" could be built for a sell price within an >order of magnitude of $200. > >> 1) Is it faster than a nimble mouse? > >No. It depends. I use "HI" setting and Control-Panel mouse setting "1". I find the head tracker ("View Control System") faster for accurate positioning than the mouse, but only for situations where one want a cursor placement leading to a "click" event. > >> 2) Is it as accurate as a mouse ie can place the cursor easily in between >> letters?? > >No. Yes. Easier than the mouse. However, it is much less easy than a mouse for drawing smooth curves. I would use the VCS for text editing every time, because one does not have to keep taking the hands off the keyboard, and because the VCS makes it easier to get accurate placement of the cursor. > >> 7) Is it worth the price?? > >No. Depends on how much money you have. Personics claims that they have built the VCS with a microphone input, and will be providing a voice-recognition device (presumably for menu command control, but they don't say so). I use the VCS mainly for writing reports, which I do in ThinkTank 512 (transferring to UNIX troff for printing, with appropriate editing done automatically). I would never use it for MacDraw or MacPaint (though I did once, for fun(?)). When you look at the lab study statistics, you have to ask about the conditions. In the long run, nothing compares with real-world experience: do users stick with a device once the novelty has worn off, given that they have equal access to other devices for the same task? The VCS allows you rapidly to switch from using the head-tracker to using the mouse. I think for me the novelty has worn off, and I still use the VCS. My only gripe is that it grips my head too tightly, no matter how I set the pressure pads, but after a while one gets used to it. > VCS is made by: Personics Corporation, 2352 Main St, Building 2, Concord, MA 01742. (617) 897-1575. -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt
callen@ada-uts (05/09/86)
>As an aside, other devices tested included teflon pads for the underside of >a mouse, pads to run a mouse on, trackballs, joysticks, and the effects of >scaling between mouse and cursor movement. Everything tested was worse, or >was not statistically better, than the standard mac mouse. In particular, >the use of the "proportional control," (setting of (1) next to the mouse >icon on the control panel) generally decreased performance on several tasks >we measured. Overall, the tests indicated that user preference for these >gadgets was not well-correlated with user performance. > >Craig Hansen Really? I *LOVE* the proportional mouse control. I notice it IMMEDIATELY if someone in the house has changed it on me. I use my mac mostly for text processing (Word), terminal emulation and spreadsheets - the first two aren't mouse-intensive, the last tends to be more so. I'm mostly using the mouse to pull down menus, select dialog items, select text, set the insertion point, etc. I DON'T do alot of stuff that would seem to require finer control, like MacPaint. -- Jerry Callen ...(ima,ihnp4)!inmet!ada-uts!callen