From mconway@microsoft.com Thu Jul 16 13:25:38 1998
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From: Matt Conway <mconway@microsoft.com>
To: "'Ernst Kruijff'" <ernst.kruijff@archit.uni-weimar.de>,
        3d-ui@hitl.washington.edu
Subject: RE: right weight and size
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 10:24:24 -0700
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Status: RO


> 	OK, without kidding around, what IS known about size and weight? I
> mean,
> 	the ligter it is, the better, I suppose.... 
> 
	Not necessarily. Sometimes having the right amount of "heft" is
important -- it 
	imparts a sense of dealing with something stable and high quality,
where something feather
	weight can seem cheap and fragile. Too heavy is bad too for obvious
reasons. Talking to someone in 
	industrial design would probably be helpful. Other factors come into
play too, like the 
	tactile qualities of "grippiness" and softness -- a device made of
hard, smooth plastic 
	will have very different handling qualities than one that is covered
	in a high-friction rubbery coating.

> 	I ask this question because I am thinking about developing a
> (simple)
> 	device, ergonomically formed, which fits inside the palm of ones
> hand,
> 	with a couple of buttons - that is, you don't hold the device, it
> fits
> 	you like a glove or something. On the device, I would like to put a
> 	couple of buttons and maybe put an Inside tracker in it - you use it
> for
> 	menu functions than, putting your hand in space and attach (in the
> VE) a
> 	menu or something to that...  or for specific snap functions,
> 	whatsoever. This of course in combination with the stylus we want to
> use
> 	again.
> 
> 	BUT I am probably not the first who tried this ... 
> 
	I think I've seen devices very much like what you describe. 


>    -Ernst
> 
> -- 
> ...... Dipl.-Drs. Ernst Kruijff
>        Research assistant
> ...... Ernst.Kruijff@archit.uni-weimar.de
> ...... Bauhaus-University Weimar
>        Computer Science in Architecture and Urban Planning 
>        Geschwister-Scholl-Strasse 7
>        99421 Weimar, Germany
> ...... Private:
>        Schlossgasse 17/19
>        99423 Weimar, Germany