Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by self_awareness 784 days ago
I don't think the world has invented a better pointing/control device than a mouse + keyboard: trackballs are nice, but the ball gets sweaty quickly, and they're not as fast. Touch interfaces are nice, but they're nowhere near as precise as the mouse. Trackpads are nice, but they stress the palm more than a mouse.

Similarily, VR interface would be nice, but I don't think it will be as precise as the mouse. Maybe the interfaces themselves will compensate, as they do now for touch controls, by making everything bigger and putting a lot of empty space, but will it be better? I doubt it.

Human hand has evolved to use physical tools, not by waving empty hands in the air to show abstract concepts. So I'm not sure why some people think the latter is some kind of natural behavior for humans. We use sticks, hammers, knives. Physical stuff. We have to know how it feels, what is the weight, the texture of the surface. By moving everything to virtual space we are depraving ourselves a large part of our senses. Is that better? Not for me.

A better way would probably something that would not depend on the eyes that much, and would provide the same/better control than a mouse can give. Not only this would use more senses, but also would actually improve the quality of life of all people with severe vision deficiences. Currently we all put everything related to IT to the eyes; and if our eyes fail, then we're f*cked. And technology should be there to support and protect us.