LGR Oddware: Twiddler Motion Controlled Keyboard Mouse from 1992
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- Опубліковано 6 січ 2022
- The HandyKey Twiddler is a handheld chording keyboard, serial mouse, and motion-control input device all in one! Despite the steep learning curve, it's even somewhat enjoyable to use here and there. And playing motion-controlled DOS games is just a trip, if nothing else.
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#LGR #Retro #Oddware - Наука та технологія
in the 90s a programmer in my office had hand motor control issues. he couldn't control a normal mouse and had problems with a keyboard. He got one of these things and was able, oddly, to control it with little issue. it really was a god send for him.
Yeah that seems like the only type of customer that this would appeal to
No idea what's odd about that.
What's odd is two different accounts posted the same comment
@@Hello2215. then it would be even.
@@proCaylak very well done
The fact that it uses that little bulb with just some special liquid in it to have motion control like that is so cool to me, old school tech is always the coolest to me
Old-school "silent" wall switches in houses used to have those. When you flipped the switch up, the liquid mercury would touch the contacts inside the bulb and complete the circuit, turning on the light. When the switch is flipped down, the mercury rolls away from the contacts and turns the light off.
@@Arjay82 I learned how analog inputs work when I was studying for my ham radio license. The circuit monitors how much current is traveling along the line, and basically moving the analog device further on a particular axis (push the joystick forward, tilt the Twiddler over, crank the volume knob up to 11, etc.) increases the amount of current that's able to travel on that circuit. The circuit's logic often has to be set up to interpret certain ranges of voltage as particular inputs and there are different ways to do that, hardware-wise, though for something as simple as a volume knob more power=more volume.
It's pretty clever, all-in-all.
My dad taught me about mercury switches from all the random ones he saw as a mechanic in the 70s and early 80s. It's simple and effective. But I never expected the 5 pole motion sensor switch.
@@420anonymous MMMWWAAhahahahaaaa.... NOOOObody expects the 5-pole motion sensor switch!!! Its chief element is SURPRISE!
Surprise, and FEAR!
Wait- its TWO chief elemements are SUPRISE, FEAR, and FIVE POLES!!
Wait- its SEVEN CHIEF ELEMENTS...
The screen on your phone able to rotate?
It's easy to look at something like this now and find it ridiculous but I kind of miss these wild west times of technological innovations in the 90s.
It’s not really that crazy, more useful for people with disabilities
Personally, I am pretty amazed by this device. It is really smart and if you put the effort and time into it, I believe it could be an efficient way of typing.
Reminds me of the time that guy thought it would be a good idea to combine a cellular phone, an Internet-capable computer, and an mp3 player, all in one package. What a stupid idea that turned out to be!🤣
This things great way ahead of the times, I have a modern USB wireless mouse with a keyboard on the backside ... A direct descendent of this thing! Really useful I leave it plugged into my Emulation Console.
They still have these twiddler 3 is wireless with bluetooth
I love it when smart people get passionate about creating a product that is clearly aimed at helping people who could really use something like this.
Reminds me what a genius invention the mouse was. It basically hasn't changed since its inception despite these types of products trying their best!
Cathode Ray Dude has a few videos on the mouse that are really good. How it was invented, how quickly the design became standardized, and a few odd variations you don't see every day.
True, we take for granted a lot of stuff, but we still use a lot of things daily that were invented a long time ago, not only tech related.
Enough people think that the trackball is superior (myself included) for it to have held out all of these years as well.
I also think the trackball deserves a little bit more love, those things are pretty awesome. Good for gaming as well, as long as it doesn't concern fast paced twitchy FPS'es.
@@danparish1344 everyone i know who has played an fps with a trackball came to realize its superiority no matter how much they didnt care for them otherwise.
I had one of these, I used to play "The Typing of the Dead" with it in the early 2000s. I remember my record was 2 zombie kills and 32 seconds after I really got proficient with it.
That's hilarious. And if it's not a joke it's amazing too
Sega
The Twiddling of the Dead. That's cash money.
I looked for They Typing of the Dead to practice with my Twiddler3 not too long ago. The story continues.
I had a guidance counselor who had ALS and, among other devices, he either had the Twiddler or something extremely serious. It was a so-so attempt at giving him options to operate his office computer instead of using a special brace where he'd poke individual keys on his keyboard to type something. Unforunately it barely worked and if his voice typing software, which was kinda primitive back in the day, wasn't working he just got his secretary to type up everything. Nevertheless it was one of my early experiences with trying to overcome technological hurdles for users with disabilities.
Speaking of ALS, Stephen Hawking had a hand controller thing for his text-to-speech laptop, though I don't know what kind exactly. He later used one controlled by a single cheek muscle, after he lost even more motor control in his hand.
A friend/colleague bought one in the late '90s. There company then hired a person that has lost his one arm. We got the company to buy him one without actually asking if it would be something he would want or need. He never really used it.
this would probably have been great for people with really limited mobility. but things like that are so specific to the individual no wonder it wouldn't sell well. thats why that stuff is usually custom made
yea products like this still exist, but are marketed directly to potential users through doctors, support groups etc, rather than to the public.
Stephen Hawking had something vaguely like this at one point, though he wasn't especially able to do chording by the time he lost his voice.
@@A.Martin It's also where you get a lot of products that look like they're designed for folks that are comically clumsy or lazy. They're often designed for folks with niche needs like people with mobility issues, but need to find a way to appeal to a larger market to drive down costs and increase profits.
Custom made = most disabled people have 0 access
@@Raguleader what ends up happening is these products become extremely expensive and are supported by government funding. But with little regulation the funds are not controlled well and the price ends up being over inflated
"nobody puts duke in a corner unless he's using a twiddler" quote of the day
*Starts kicking constantly*
I'm glad to see you can still buy some form of this, it really does seem like a great device for one-handed folks.
There are much better devices for one armed people.
Eeeyup. /)
I think I'd like to buy one sometime just to play with it. It looks like fun, and it'd be a great challenge for your brain - maybe grow some new cells. Goodness knows I need more of those!
I was gifted one of these in the mid late nineties by my Hematologist/friend. I have hemophilia and always had/have joint bleeds in my elbows so there were times when I only had use of one arm/hand for weeks at a time. I tried to really use it, but it was really hard for my smaller young person child hand to easily reach all the buttons. So, I pretty quickly just went back to using a normal keyboard even one handedly. I wish I had kept it though. It would be a nice novelty to keep around. Thanks for the nostalgia blast!
😢
I believe Douglas Englebart, the guy who invented the mouse, also invented a chord keyboard to go along with it. He used both during the famous "Mother of all Demos" were he demonstrated several modern computing concepts in 1968.
Yeap, and it was also a think for the Alto, the very ahead-of-its-time computer of Xerox PARC. It featured most of the stuff presented in the mother of all demos (and we have many of these things today in common use thanks to this very computer).
Wow, that tilt indicator is ANALOG! That is rather impressive, and I have never seen this until just right now.
Yeah that blew my mind too. That's really clever although mercury might've been more precise... There were obvious adhesion issues that crippled precision. Still really damn clever.
@@0v_x0 I knew there were gyro sensors before the current MEMS devices, but I hadn't seen one. Very cool.
i agree. they took it out Clint said, but i wonder if it would be better now by using the same chips the wiimote uses (which afaik are very standard and common, just like cellphone's ones).
Sad to hear they got rid of motion on later versions. Modern gyro's work really well for cursor/aiming controls, and several controllers have them (ds4/dualsense, switch pro/joy con, steam controller; though unfortunately not all devs actually use the gyro in their games. Most pc users simply map the gyro to mouse and be done with it).
Generally Nintendo consoles since Wii had the most motion control games, including the 3DS (like Zelda OoT 3D). And a lot of TV remotes use motion as well and phones contain gyros too (which you can passthrough to Dolphin and Cemu if you wanna have some "older" motion controls experience).
And nowadays gyros don't have liquid in them which is nice.
I have a switch, and the motion control is quite good. I also have a LG oled. The remote has a "mouse" thing that is atrociously bad. I considered returning the tv just because of that, actually.
That's too bad they got rid of that. I was thinking during the video that it would be interesting to play with in VR.
@@OscarScheepstra_Artemis_ yeah, the software implementation certainly matters a lot too. What the developer does with the quaternion makes or breaks the experience.
Best case is treating it exactly like a mouse; pitch controls y axis and then your choice of yaw or roll controls x axis (though there are some newer techniques that blend yaw and roll based on the pitch angle and those seem to work even better).
Unfortunately, a lot of devs add filtering, smoothing, "pulling back to center", weird acceleration, too low sensitivity, etc, or treat it like a joystick instead.
The samsung smart tv remote I have does this thing where everytime it gets activated, it starts at the center of the screen. Makes "ratcheting" impossible, but thankfully it feels much like how a laser pointer would feel so provided you actually start with the remote pointing more or less at the center of the screen then it works okay. Not ideal, but okay.
Yeah, I use gyro as a pointer for the PS4's pop-up keyboard, and it's easily the best application of motion controls. It's intuitive, it's non-intrusive, and unlike the gyro-pointer in the Switch port of Super Mario Galaxy, I don't need to constantly recalibrate.
Just wish there was an easy way to do the same thing on PC, because that would make emulating DS games a lot easier...
@LGR, my Master's advisor at Georgia Tech was Thad Starner, a wearable computing pioneer. He used one of these with his homebuilt wearable (which lived in a rucksack). He'd hook it into his presentation computer sometimes so we could see his interface -- a custom Linux setup IIRC. He was lightning fast with the Twiddler and could take notes & look up info in real time with his HUD while talking with you. One of the other kids in the lab 3D-printed an upgraded version of it with bluetooth and Thad loved it (this was before the wireless one existed) -- good times.
Wearable computers were a fringe phenomenon in the late 90s and early 00s. All were homebrew, and the Twiddler was usually the input device of choice.
Remember when Steam let you use the Xbox style controller for typing, by tilting the left stick in one of eight directions and then pressing one of the four face buttons? It worked pretty well, mainly because there was an overlay right on the screen showing where to go for each character. Way better than having to arrow your way around an on-screen keyboard and press A for everything. I still don't know why they got rid of it-although if the patents on the Twiddler hadn't expired yet, that might be a clue.
I don't know either, I don't think it's Twiddler related however.
Wish they at least allowed for typing with the touchpad on PS4
AH, yeah, the "flower" on-screen keyboard layout. Good times. The PSP had a lot of functionality related to that keyboard layout back in the day too as I recall, especially with home-brew apps. It gets pretty fast once you get used to it!
I never used either keyboard much but did like the flower more than what they got now
Was it similar to the text entry in the game Beyond Good and Evil?
@@romajimamulo ???
You _can_ type with the touchpad on PS4... its a default feature
Wow, i just handed in a term paper about blind typing in VR, and twiddler still is a thing. Really nice to see a vid about it!
Edit: The liquid tilt sensor is absolutely mindblowing.
So elegantly simple compared to the complicated micro-electromechanical devices used by things like smartphones to sense acceleration and rotation.
@@Roxor128 These MEMS devices are actually simple and super elegant as well. The complicated bit is manufacturing them, which is absolutely insanely complex.
I can see why the Wii controller used accelemeters now. You don't need to have the device in a neutral upright position and instead based on movement.
You can buy similar devices still. They're known as an "air-mouse" and basically work the same way as a Wiimote. Much lighter, too.
And yeah, compared to what we saw in the video, they're much more sensitive. Feels pretty good for controlling a computer from across the room, actually. Wouldn't want to try using it for gaming, though.
Your videos are so relaxing. I appreciate them a lot!
Thank you, I'm happy to hear!
@@LGR hey LGR, can you review the QuickTime camera?
The time honored tradition of playing Duke3d with devices that you probably shouldn't.
This bad boy was way ahead of it's time with the motion control. The keyboard/mouse is clunky but they were onto something with this. Vintage LGR playing Lemmings and Duke Nukem!
It was also considering in the late 90s the mobile phone boom... in the UK texting (SMS) blew up! When I was a kid I could compose a text really fast using only a Nokia's numberpad lol.
And Lemmings has awesome music for saying most of the music is public domain lol. Pachelbel's Cannon for example. LOL.
The keyboard could work with better button placement - see the wikipedia article on the microwriter - that only has six keys - not enough for, say 'page up' and all the other weird keys on a PC - but definitely enough for highspeed typing of the alphabet and a few common punctuation marks. The ergonomics of those six keys are a lot better than on this gadget.
@@razerow3391 Ahh the days of texting on the Nokia number pad lol I remember being proficient with that too
@@DaveF. Well said and agree with you on those points about the keyboard!
@@DaveF. when he was describing how the keyboard layout was done that was my first thought. Like, wouldn't you make an attempt to to map the keys that you use most often on the first layer. The whole design is awkward, especially the layout.
Chording keyboards like this where, I think, quite popular with the early mobile computer crowd.
I hate typing on the virtual keyboard in VR. I could see something like this being useful for the right app.
Having seen my classmates back then writing sms with superhuman speeds on old Nokia Bones, I can imagine that reaching comfortable speeds is possible with enough dedication.
Looks like assistive technology for someone who may only have one hand or something like that. I knew a fellow who was using the BAT back when I was a kid in special ed.
I feel like this is something you'd read about in a sci-fi book. I could see someone using the twiddler and talk about the chording way as a way to show how people use future computers.
Besides the disability use case, it was in fact most popular as an input controller for people building wearable computers like cyberdecks (go on the arm). So you're spot on actually.
You always make me unwind after a hard day with your subtle sarcasm and smooth voice. Thnx dude
This or similar products were often used with early "wearable computing" experiments in the 90s etc. I tried to learn to use it but never got so I could really type text with it.
Mostly I just experimented with a small set of character inputs for commands, or used similar but similar hand held or wrist mounted button things.
I feel like I remember this being popular with the MIT Media Lab back in the day because of the wearable computing experiements they were doing.
I came here to say this. Many folks who use wearable computers consisting of monocular displays (typically salvaged from camcorder eye pieces), a belt-worn walkman-sized computer) use a belt-worn twiddler. these are actually still *reasonably* common in the cybernetics space (which of course is a niche). there ARE people for whom this kind of cybernetics is fantastic for, however, such as factory floor workers who want an eye-worn inventory terminal or technicians who want fast access to procedure manuals for particular repairs. google glass was kind of an evolution of this as well but that didn't feature any kind of text input, it was all "trackpad" and voice input. but yeah, twiddlers are extremely common in this space because they are super portable and easily attached to a belt with velcro.
Wow, a Wiimote 14 years before the Wiimote!
I think a Wiimote might have more in common with a modern air-mouse, though. Can't deny this is still a cool predecessor.
That's awesome that new versions are still being made! I have little interest in giving this a go myself, but it's inspiring that the dream still lives on in a way.
oddware is honestly my favourite thing like ever. My favourite part about any..creation is what weird things people will come up with. It really sucks then with the ever growing importance of making money that has stopped a lot of invention or ideas from being realized ;-; i want it, i wanna see all the weird odd things.
I have seen twiddler 2 being used in a wearable computer set up, other parts was a hud/eye pice and some sort of laptop.
Honestly, I've always wondered if a keyboard and mouse combo like this existed. And now I know. And this looks genuinely useful, unlike most weird tech of the period.
My hand was cramping up just looking at it, but that certainly was an entertaining Oddware episode. Great work as always!
I used it with wearable computer research. For some reason I didn't know about the fluid filled motion controller, which I really liked. I think the ones we had must have been later. Frustration factor on these was very very high and I got better to a point and then didn't get better anymore. Fondly remembered only in the distant past!
In case anyone's wondering, we got to see this lovely video four days ago on LGR's Patreon. Definitely worth the price of admission :)
I feel this would be one of those things you buy thinking it'd be so cool and practical to have, only to get frustrated trying to learn it and throw it into a closet to be forgotten.
I see the thought behind it though, if it had gained traction as they'd hoped for and wasn't so difficult to learn I think it'd be something.
My stepdad's friend got him a similar mouse, circa 2009 ish except sans keyboard input but it still had some media buttons. Used it once or twice and then it went into the closet.
The mouse functionality suffers because of the primitive and imprecise sensor tech. That's hard to address with training though it is of course going to get better the more you use it. However the technical limits means it will never be as good as with a regular mouse if you can use one.
The keyboard side is however interesting. Considering that after more than 40 years I'm still a slow typist who can't type blind worth a damn this looks quite intimidating. However at the same time there are countries like China and Japan where they use thousands of symbols when they write, and they have managed to create solutions that allow them to type using more or less standard keyboards, and that at a quite decent speed. Considering that there is way to many of these symbols to show on the keycaps that takes a lot of memorization. So compared to that learning to use a keyboard like this should be easy.
Well I wrote should be, because I certainly wouldn't think it was easy.
There are other examples like the machines used by people who write real time translations or texting. The keyboards on these doesn't have a full set of keys but rely on "chords" both for single letters as well as for common letter combinations and words. However real time texting puts a lot of stress on the operator so there is usually three or more who takes turns so while one is working, one is on standby and the third is trying to relax for a few minutes. But the idea of "chords" is basically the same as what the Twiddle does.
Keeping records at court is another thing that require extremely fast typing and the machines used for this also tends to use some of these ideas.
Realistically speaking if you were to learn something like these keyboards or the Twiddler from the beginning it would probably not be that hard to learn, but for an old fart like me it's more or less undoable.
@@blahorgaslisk7763 It would actually be easier for you. The primary problem with learning a new keyboard layout, or chorded input, is the sheer drop in performance for competent typists. It's absolutely excruciating to have to type at 5 wpm when you normally do, say, 80 at a canter. If your drop isn't as bad, it'd be much easier to pick up.
@@paulie-g You missed the part where it's taken more than 40 years to get where I am today. And that is typing way to much everyday.
And then there's the old fart problem. I have a hard time to learn even the most basic commands in games. A lot of the time I end up playing through a game like say Halo without throwing even one grenade or throwing a single punch as I always forgets the finger setting for it and ends up losing time fumbling for the right button.
Same with quick time events where they flash the key to press to progress. Square! OK, triangle, triangle where TF is the triangle again? And I'm dead. I hate QT events!
So no, it wouldn't be easy in any way you choose to define it, for me to learn something like this.
I have an AlphaGrip controller from the early 2000's which is a very similar thing. It's shaped more like an original xbox controller with a little trackball on it. I worked from a recliner for a year, where it was actually much nicer than trying to use a keyboard and a mouse. The other situation where it worked really well was sitting on a bed or somewhere awkward to type with a normal setup.
How fast did you manage to get? Were the buttons nice, with a defined tactile response or mushy? Really curious about it.
@@paulie-g They certainly weren't springy, but a lot of the buttons, especially on the back were rocker buttons which helped. The others have good action and feel like xbox controller buttons. I got to a point where I could type about 2/3-3/4 of the speed that I could with a flat keyboard.
In the 1990s and early 2000s Steve Mann (a Canadian computer scientist) used to demonstrate his wearable computer and he used one of these Twiddlers as input. It was amazing at the time -- imagine having a computer with you all the time where you could type as you walked around. These days when we all have something like that (our phones) it maybe isn't quite as impressive.
I love this channel. With all the crap going on in this world its so cool to enjoy life and the little things in this case retro computer stuff. Evert time I watch these videos it brings back fond memory of early computer days and homebrew stuff. Kind of a innocence and a pure love for the hobby that is gone with todays every changing plug and play disposable ubiquitous taken for granted technology.
Someone needs to build a whole guitar body for a Twiddler
whats odysee?
Holy smokes, I had forgotten about this thing. I was wondering if you were ever going to get around to review it. You picked up the basic chords a LOT faster than I ever did.
In the 90s there was a lot of guys trying to create "weareble computers" and I was very interested. I remember that I saw one guy using that device for one of them since he could type standing up and with one hand. I didn't know what it was and I spent the last 25 years wondering what the hell that was.
Thanks for answering that for me finally! I can now die in peace. Lol
It is interesting that not only we see the device, we get a history lesson and see the next iterations of the device to the modern era. And you gotta love Clint impersonation of Duke Nukem haha. I am impressed with how much stuff we have nowadays (like motion controls) and those existed in the dark ages too.
The Chord Keyboard is one of the input methods in Douglas Engelbart's December 9, 1968, demonstration retroactively named "The Mother of All Demos" . Unfortunately its one of the only technologies that just didn't pan out. (They used a 5 key desktop version, not a 12 key handheld version)
Pentikeyboard by Alexander Berger is just like that except you can move the buttons around
That's really neat. Well, cording lives on to some extent. Like LGR said, Braille uses cording, and I'll add that's especially the case when using a Braille display on a computer. There are quite a few extra combos to memorize on individual Braille displays, and with individual screen readers, outside actual Braille typing. I've had a Braille display for some 2 years now, but I honestly still find myself sometimes looking up the keystroke table.
I legitimately plan to buy a Twiddler 3 thanks to this video.
Fascinating little thing! With the use of macros, this could be very useful indeed. The initial learning curve might be steep, but I can see how a proficient user could type away without actually thinking about it - kind of how you do knitting and such by sheer muscle memory. I suppose this is also something some people would pick up faster than others. Thank you for showing this device.
The thing that amazes me the most is the fact that those electrolytic tilt sensors are *still* being made and used! Perhaps not that specific one, but the same concept!
interesting, could you give a few examples?
I suppose a reason for still using one would be that it intrinsically knows what up is.
I was wondering what sort of applications they were made for. My guess is something like industrial applications where machines, or parts of machines need to stay relatively level. 🤔
@@kandigloss6438 I replied to you but the comments (both the one without the link and the one with! Agh.) disappeared. Sad face.
Here's the sample applications from the manufacturer for one similar to this (2 axis)
Sample Applications
RV leveling
Agricultural machinery and equipment
Construction machinery and equipment
Laser leveling systems
Satellite antenna positioning
Railway monitoring
Mining machinery and equipment
If you search for "electrolytic tilt sensor" you'll find a manufacturer called Fredericks, and they've got a ton of models, including the glass ones just like in the Twiddler, and they have a *really* long list of sample applications for their entire line, but for the 2 axis ones they only list a few. Here's hoping this doesn't get deleted...
@@BRUXXUS They seem to excel (at least the one axis varieties) at being *super* precise, for instance, they have various ranges, wide, mid, and narrow, wide being ~40-70°, mid being 10-20°, narrow being 0.5-3°, but on the mid and narrow being extremely precise with a resolution for the 0.5° one being 0.0003°, and on the high end, the 70° wide range model with a resolution of 0.003°, which is *insane* levels of resolution if you think about it.
Ensuring something is level (one example being leveling an RV), perhaps, or detecting very small vibrations, I imagine it'd be great at that sort of thing.
I can imagine something like astronomical equipment would want something like that to get very accurate positional data as to where the telescope (radio or visual) is pointing, especially if you're tracking an object and wanting to define an orbit. Same concept with satellite dishes.
I imagine they could probably be useful in detecting swaying in skyscrapers due to wind. Not sure if they're used for that, but, hey.
Submarines, perhaps, the reasons for that would be obvious.
Playing Duke Nukem3D with this is classic LGR Oddware.
Pain in my balls of steel
My first IT boss bought one of these in the late 90s. If I recall correctly he used it (on Linux no less) for about a year before moving back.
These accessibility devices are great. When I was young, one of my teachers had very little control of his hands due to polio, and his pedal keyboard was awesome.
The Mother of all Demos, presented by Doug Engelbart, have envisioned in 1968 many things :
-GUIs
-the mouse
-networking
-collaborative multitasking
-video calls
-hypertext links
-and the chorded keyboard.
One feature did not made into our times. Guess which one....
Nevertheless a motion capturing device without all of the modern MEMS rubbish like gyro and accelerometers is pretty neat.
I've been fascinated with chording keyboards for a long time and want to make a portable one with some gyro based gestures eventually, so it's pretty exciting to see this oddware.
I wonder if there is someone, somewhere that always used one of these and is just amazingly fast with it.
I wonder what the effectiveness of something like this combined with predictive text would be. 70wpm isn't really a lot on it's own, but I know Asian languages rely heavily on predictive texts since the 80s since their vocabulary is so massive and specific.
Why aren't your videos getting more views? The production quality, the script, the voice over, visuals - everything is top notch! I also think someone should do a speed run of Duke Nukem 3d using the Twiddler
Your video(s) make me realize that we grew up during the true innovative time of all things PC.
-The Chief
I would watch a feature-length action movie starring Clint armed with these obsolete gadgets to hack smart phones... or whatever, just look at him strolling around typing away on a one-handed keyboard-and-mouse makes him look a bit like an evil genius badass :D
Basically a retro computer version of the AVGN.
You can see specific use cases where this if the individual is given time to learn and master the macros, but for the average Joe that standard qwerty and mouse combo still works a treat.
The three-color system for the letters feels like the direct precursor to triple-tap keypads.
We're not doing the pronoun thing anymore.
@@thohangst We're not doing the transphobia thing anymore.
@@thohangst dude shut uppp lmfao
If someone was proficient with this, I can see it being a really valuable input device.
I have a Twiddler2! Love that little thing. Despite being right-handed, it's easiest for me to use it left-handed, because I'm a guitarist. I really like the stick mouse right at my thumb.
Happy to learn Twiddler3 exists! I'd been hoping this continued. I knew HandyKey had been wanting to add Bluetooth and such but wasn't really positioned for it. Also they were having some supply chain issues for the thumb mouse.
I'm the same with my use of the BAT (briefly mentioned in the video). I am right handed but use a left-handed BAT. Mainly because I prefer my right hand available for trackball and/or 6DOF-controller operation, where the extra motor-precision of my preferred-hand is better used.
I think the coolest thing about this is the Twiddler wasn't some device failure doomed to an eternity of being forgotten save when it appears on thrift store shelves. It might not have been a smash hit apparently but it continued on, is even around today. Pretty rare for Oddware you can still buy in some form currently.
I'd really love to see you try to tackle 'Typing of the Dead' with this monstrosity!
Thanks for opening it up. That liquid bulb in there is crazy!
I'd have expected the cord to be attached to the device pretty much anywhere else than where it is. You could rest it and use more like a typical joystick. Can't imagine having any precision flailing it in the air. Seems like a missed opportunity.
I'm not sure he is holding it completely right. I think it is supposed to be more pointed horizontal at the screen vs held up and down vertically. It maybe broke or he just didn't use it long enough.
@@ohioplayer-bl9em All the images clearly show it being used upright.
I just get the feeling this should be in a cheesey 90s hacker movie, Like the bad guy in hackers with the 90s VR headset and glove much love LGR i really enjoy your content thank you.
I always wanted to try one of these things (the twiddler2, specifically). I love the idea of one-handed operation.
You know you make grate videos when a person ho dus not know much about computers and its parts have no interest in learning about them watch every one of your videos meny props to you.
Now that’s a new Keyboard Mouse Motion Controller! Twiddling around might be seriously fun and I might be able to!
I love the idea of these kinds of things,I've always wanted a stenotype but they are so damn expensive
When I get sick (like flu), I watch your vids one after another one and relax so well - it helps me heal! Doing tgat right this moment.
PS I watch your vids when I am not sick as well :)
PS2 great vid as usual, thanks!
Just looking at the box makes it look like a bad case of Carpal Tunnel waiting to happen. I'm surprised it works as well as it does, even if I'd never use it.
I dunno - you would barely need to move your wrists - and only one wrist at that - to type.
Carpal tunnel problems happen due to a very specific pose mouse using tend to force people's hands & wrists into, simply holding something straight in the air won't ever cause such problems. There even exist regular mice shaped as a standing towering thing for you to grab onto to avoid carpal tunnel and extended pinching of tissue between your lower arm bones.
@@DaveF. its from the way your fingers are positioned
It's a handshake position so that pretty much makes it not give you carpal tunnel
@@Gary_Hun I used to work with someone who had such a "standing mouse" because of wrist problems. I found it impossible to use, but I guess if your only options are "get used to a tower mouse" or "experience great pain every day for the rest of your life" then the choice is pretty simple.
Funnily enough though, after using that mouse (because I work in IT and sometimes have to do stuff on other PCs) I found myself sometimes lifting up my mouse and hold my hand in a more natural postion, when all I need the mouse for is to scroll through a page that I am reading.
Maybe I'll get one of those tower mice for myself one day.
i always got the feeling that everything around us right now was invented back in the 70/80/90s.. No new ideas, just recycled and "remastered"
The best is when we revisit these old ambitious ideas and thanks to advances in tech we nail it. Like the PDAs of the 90s really came full circle with modern smartphones, it’s amazing to think of the tech advancements and revisiting old ideas with new tools and techniques that has happened in my memory since the late 9ps and then imagining how it must seem to someone much older
Every invention builds off of what came before. First the wheel, then the axle...
I love watching you twiddle yourself
It looks like Duke had about enough with the twiddler. Awesome video by the way!
great review, I knew that type of valves, but the ones that worked with mercury inside
"Alright, enough twiddling around, it's time to get this twiddler back into action!" was what I expected you to say. Funny product.
Man, I just really love your channel. You bring me back to my childhood.
I remember watching an episode of Scientific American Frontiers where some people at the MIT Media Lab who were working on head/eye-mounted monitors used these (or something with a similar form factor) with those computers. It still looks like The Future to me! XD
Yesterday I just back-ordered something called the CharaChorder, another chorded keyboard. I didn't realize how far back these go!
They're even older! Stenotype machines were used starting in the 1860s, and use chords + shorthand to transcribe extremely fast. Stenographers are still important today because of their speed and also their accuracy compared to auto-transcription and even audio recording, due to noisiness/mumbling/accents/etc. And their usefulness is only increased with automated shorthand conversion, since a steno can type common but long legal phrases in a single chord! Stenography is also used for closed captions, and especially *live* CC, making it vital for accessibility especially where speed AND accuracy are crucial, such as government proceedings.
This would make a great implement for VR... if you could remember things.
Awesome video Clint! Also enjoyed the new video format with you showing up on camera more. Happy 2022 buddy!
At 18:36 the subtitles say "chuckles in electrolytic tilt sensor" which could have been a slogan for this thing. Seriously though, this is a fantastic piece of oddware that would have been just the thing for some users.
There are definitely people that this could work very well for, but not for everyone
They're still selling the Twiddler for $199. That's certainly a price for what is essentially a couple of switches, a battery, and a Bluetooth transceiver.
I mean, at least the price went down
Everything is expensive if it's not mass produced. I don't imagine they sell lots of these
@UCmTaFuE3LPuduVtOdMGK81w i duno disabled market should be pretty big. Anyone with limited movement of or missing a hand could use this to type as fast as two handed ppl. Its very cool idea and obviously if they sold business and they still sell them theres a niche for this type thing. Was never gona be a hit but a niche thing
@@captaintoyota3171 Wrong number.
I am already in pain due to Spine problems, but watching you twiddle with that thing seriously was EVEN MORE PAINFUL. Every second I was hoping you would smash the damn thing against the wall
I must admit I find the twiddler very awkward-looking too (and I seriously looked into them back in the day). But then, I have been using a BAT chordable keyboard for so long that I have that reaction to a regular keyboard too! YMMV.
As an idea, it's solid. Like all innovation, this needed to be made simply to show what worked and what didn't. I mean, the strap idea makes it kinda, sorta if you squint, look like a modern VR controller. It may have been a very niche product, but dammit, I miss the days when stuff was made with thoughts outside the box.
The way the motion controls seem to work reminds me of the Wii wheel controller, which, I personally, find impossible to use, since it's a steering wheel without a steering column, much like this is a joystick without a base
That mouse looks like Wii controller for the 20th century.
This was the device I used for vr and mobile computing rig in 1994
I had a physical reaction to watching you use this device. Like, my hands started to cramp up. Crazy!!!
Ive never played Duke 3D but I know the first level by heart thanks to Clint
Looks like an interesting device for its time. Of course nowadays one would just use a wireless mini keyboard with a trackpad for most of the use cases they mention.
I just want to complement the exquisite choice and levelling of the background music.
Friday, new LGR video and some old whiskey in the glass. Life's pretty good now.
Even if I had the use of only one hand, I am so used to a standard KB/M I'd just still use them. I suppose if I had never typed or moused before, and only had the use of one hand, I could become proficient with a device like this.
So - it's got the same exact problem as the Space Cadet keyboard had - just from the completely opposite perspective. The learning curve required to make use of hundreds of macro combinations made it incredibly niche and specialised.
What are you talking about?
@@ab-cv9be I think he's talking about how the "Space Cadet" keyboard that came with early Symbolics systems had an astounding (and often redundant) number of keys. I remember it had, like, five modifers, for a start.
I think the other problem is that the modifier buttons are waayyyyyy too close to the palm, so it looks like it would be really uncomfortable to use them with any kind of decent accuracy.
@@ab-cv9be The space cadet keyboard had three types of shift key and four types of control key. The number of key combos you could type on it were numbered in the thousands, and so, like this device, the learning curve was so vast the benefit from those macros was marginal except for a few users. In that keyboards case because it had too many buttons, in this one because it has too few.
@@deanolium Yeah - that's a good point - the microwriter, which I'd seen decades ago on a BBC micro has only six keys - four finger button and two thumb buttons. Obvious less keys, but probably quite useable for high-speed typing.
There's a moderately popular Twitch streamer called SushiDragon who uses 2 of these to do real time video effect editing, on the fly.
Fascinating! The liquid-based tilt variable resistor is a truly valiant attempt to do with 90s technology something that would take until the invention of MEMS accelerometers to really do a good job at, and I'm not surprised they got rid of that feature in later versions. It kinda works, but not quite well enough to get to the point where the functionality outweighs the frustration. And used the way they've done it here, it's really a fatally flawed concept to begin with - Imagine using that as your mouse all day... RSI Hell! Pretty funny they mention RSI prevention as part of their marketing!