Easy to Use Mice for Handicapped Persons? 36
Gavin Miller asks: "I've got a good friend with a disease that limits the use of his limbs, mainly his fingers. He says he can move a normal mouse but is no longer able to click. Does anyone know of input peripheral options that might be easier for him to use? I don't know exactly how much movement he does have in his fingers, or what he can or cannot do. I'm simply looking for some options that he can look into. Thanks!"
Tried a Mac mouse? (Score:3, Insightful)
Another possibility: two "normal" mice (Score:2)
If you glued the "button" mouse to a shim to tilt it up a bit, friend could even use the wheel by rolling the heel of his hand on it. If that's still too hard, mount a larger wheel in contect with the mouse wheel and roll that instead. You can also wire up nice big buttons across the standard microswitches.
These mice [aopen.com.tw] have two wheels, one of which doesn't click, which makes it easier to roll a wheel with
Re:Another possibility: two "normal" mice (Score:2)
In fact, I'd like that, just because I can't stand the wasted energy moving from keyboard to mouse and back. (Developers: please always have keyboard shortcuts. Thanks!)
apple mouse? (Score:3, Informative)
Apple keyboard and mouse [apple.com]
Re:apple mouse? (Score:2)
You dont click a button, you just push down in the entire top of the mouse...its annoying to me (as well as the lack of right click and wheel) but it sounds just right
Re:apple mouse? (Score:1)
Touchpad (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Touchpad (Score:2)
Trackball? (Score:2)
windows assist and voice (Score:3, Insightful)
if you want something less "hands on" try something like Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Re:windows assist and voice (Score:2, Interesting)
~stephen
second mouse, other hand. (Score:2)
takes a little tinkering, but might be the best.
Re:second mouse, other hand. (Score:1)
Thanks for all the suggestions... (Score:1)
Re:Thanks for all the suggestions... (Score:1)
Re:Thanks for all the suggestions... (Score:1)
Gus! Dwell Cursor provides a practical method of activating mouse button clicks (click, double click etc.) for users who have difficulty accessing standard mouse buttons. . . Move the cursor over the item you want to "click", and Gus! Dwell Cursor automatically does the mouse clicking for you!
It basically works by autom
Voice Navigation (Score:1)
3M Ergo Mouse? (Score:2)
http://www.3m.com/us/office/myworkspace/mos_ergo.
-Derek
Infogrip? (Score:2)
Infogrip [infogrip.com] has a few alternatives.
Mapping keyboard (Score:1)
Orin HeadMouse (Score:2)
-Wireless Operation
-No Cumbersome Head Mounted Apparatus
-Pixel Precise Pointing, CAD Ready
-Operates in Conjunction With or Replaces Standard Desktop Mouse
-USB Mouse Interface
The HeadMouse replaces a mouse for people who cannot use their hands. It sits on top of a computer monitor or laptop and measures the user's head movements.
Unfortunately I can't find pricing anywhere.
Loomis
Don't we have enough experimental mice already? (Score:1, Troll)
What do Handicap people need with experimental mouse varieties? Isn't the stem cell research enough for these people... first the parking spots, now their own breed of mouse.. jeeezzzz.. they aren't THAT special
review of the headmouse (Score:2)
http://www.ace-centre.org.uk/headpointers/headdet
Unfortunately I think this unit is pricey. The review does mention other alternatives by name, so that might be helpful as well.
Loomis
Touchpad / Mouse Combo (Score:1)
Penny + Giles trackball (Score:1)
Google it and look around on the hit pages for other makes as well as the resellers that carry P+G will carry other input devices for various disabilities.
That gyration mouse (Score:1)
How about two mice (Off topic: Ignore) (Score:1)
How about using 2 mice at once, one in each hand.? I've always wanted to set up a system like this. I wonder how hard that would be in Linux to set up?
Of course there'd be lots of decisions to make like how to handle focus, which mouse has priority, etc. Anyone know of any projects like this?
I'm not sure what the benefit of two mice would be but it would be neat to see 2 mice moving around the screen, 2 windows moving at once, etc.
Discuss, discuss!
Software utilities (Score:1)
Crayola Kids Trackball (Score:1)
I bought this when Crayola sold it for kids, after my carpal tunnel got bad, surgery to correct it failed to help, and I had to find "the biggest trackball possible" and "something impossible for you to try to squeeze" -- and it's great.
Use "Froogle" for "Crayola trackball" and it'll also pull up a lot of related or similar devices.
Home-made Hardware Solution (Score:2)
I assume your friend uses an OS that supports using more than one mouse in parallel, i.e. Linux, MacOS X or recent versions of Windows (98 or newer, 2000 or newer). I assume that your friend can use at least one foot (or hand) to operate a foot switch.
You need two mice, one for the cursor movement and one for the buttons.
The "buttons" mouse should be a cheap one, preferably with a removeable ball and a long cable. The entire ball mechanics is no longer needed, just the electronics. You need one, two or
Re:Home-made Hardware Solution (Score:2)
This would allow him to have right click if he wanted with just one switch (one tone=left, two tone=r
easyball (Score:2)
http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/pcprot
4 possibilities for fingering-limited mousing (Score:2)
1. "vertical mouse" -- the difference in the required finger motions might help.
2. "foot mouse" -- self-explanatory
3. "mouse keys" -- is the msft-win-specific name for a facility for replicating mouse functions via numpad keys.
4. touchpad -- either outboard, or integrated in keyboard. Mouse clicks are accomplished by tapping instead of pressing. Can even be used in *addition* to other mice, so clicking (tapping) could be shifted to the other hand. Some ergonomic keyboards (including
Other Input Options (Score:1)
You just need an ordinary USB webcam and some special software (available here [iit.nrc.ca]) to make it functional.
Matt