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Guitar Hero renders mice redundant?
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 18th July 2008
Could the mouse be made redundant within the next three years? Some people seem to think so.
According to a piece over on the BBC, analysts from Gartner predict that the mouse may be rendered redundant within three to five years based on the success of custom peripherals such as those seen in Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
Instead, the somewhat hasty analysts seem to think that the future will involve "gestural computer mechanisms like touch screens and facial recognition devices."
Thankfully though, there is a voice of reason to all this and the admittedly biased Rory Dooley of Logitech could be heard piping up in favour of the mouse.
"The devices we use have been modified for our changing lifestyles but it doesn't negate the value of the mouse," Mr Dooley explained.
Dooley pointed out that, since the majority of the world still has to get online with decent connections then the gloomy predictions for the mouse are wildly off target.
"Bringing technology, education and information to these parts of the world will be done by accessing web browsers and doing that in the ways that we are familiar with today and that is using a mouse.
"There are around one billion people online but the world's population is over five billion," he said.
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Comments (33)
The BBC stopped using fact in their news articles decades ago.
no mouse or keyboard for me....
there's a modding guide in the forums, check it out:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=doesnotexist
in next weeks article; in 20 years time, everyone will be replacing their current limbs with artificial super limbs with built in cup holders and mini microwaves for heating pies on the go.
Well I have a tablet and it wasn't that expensive, but I rarely use it, it's only any good if you actually holding the laptop like a pad of paper. Trying to use the touch screen while it's in the normal position isn't very practical and results in a sore arm after not long.
The mouse and keyboard can never be completely replaced, as good as tablets are, I would rather set it up like a regular laptop most of the time since I find typing much easier than writing.
gestures have existed for ages, they arent a solution to the entire human-computer-interface paradigm. and neither is touch screen.
Human-Device-Interfacing is the most important, but least understood aspect of technology these days. companys are bought and sold on this alone - the ipod anyone? its not revolutionary, never really was, in any aspect other than being easy to use. The same comparison could be made for Microsoft Windows in the OS space.
I think its going to be a very long time before anything replaces the keyboard and/or mouse - and when it does happen, it'll be something ground breaking. not something thats been around for yonks, that nobody really cares about. And more importantly it'll work accross the board - touch screens and guestures may work for general computer use (internet, wordprocessing etc) but its nigh on useless for gaming.
Perhaps the next step is directly interfacing with a persons brain? its completely plausible, its already been done. But it would need to reach a point where the user doesnt have to wear a skullcap, undergo months of training, or have a chip implanted in their brain.
I don't think I would ever allow a pc to interface directly with my brain, aside from matrix-esque possibilities what happens when you interface with windows and your brain crashes because it doesn't have drivers for this piece of hardware?
but we got some in the office the other day and i have to say i like them a lot
imagine a wii controller mixed with a mouse and ur bang on the money, when mouse is on desk it works like a normal optical, pick it up and it becomes wii controller like
now just waiting fo rboss to go on holiday so that we can get a TF2 session on the go ;-).....
though tbh a mouse is good enough for most things, otherwise trackballs, pucks and tablets would reign supreme, maybe when voice recognition just works and requires < 3mins config then gesteral input would seem like a good idea, but you would still need to get people out from behind there desks...
um... thats not how i expect it to work. more like it reads your brain signals externally like with a skullcap, except sans the cap. theres no actual signals being sent to the brain. yet.
Same here, it's more natural to use for everyday tasks, where the mouse is only used for gaming. Touch screen or gyro technology is not the way forward for mainstream PC interface because of a lack of accuracy. You wouldn't want to FPS or use Photoshop with those kind of inputs. Besides, touch screen = fingerprints.
Yeah. Real efficient progress there.
- edit a 10,000 entry spreadsheet
- fix a computer that won't boot a GUI
- easily navigate a novel-length text document
- communicate clearly with people across the world
- beat Portal
- and do it all without changing devices.
The mouse and keyboard are a tremendously powerful interface for today's computer-user paradigm.
Sure, there are some neat HID devices out there, but most have specific uses. Touchscreens for handheld devices, gyro controllers for gaming and 3d modelling and so on...
I would never replace my primary monitor with a touchscreen. My arm would die after half a day. Also, I don't want fingerprints on a monitor used to edit pictures.
I think Logitech have something like this as well. :) Looks interesting.
We have a whole department who use Gyration mice. While they can be used both on a surface and in the air, they are frustratingly inaccurate. Like using the Wiimote and nunchuck to play CSS. They're mostly used for making presentations in the classroom.
The trouble with many alternative interface methods are that they're uncomfortable. Prolonged arm waggling, finger-sliding and eyeballing your computer puts unnecessary strain on your body.
I kid, I kid.
This is the problem we have now where more advanced physical interfaces start having diminishing returns.