Dec 27 2007SmartNav Controls Cursor With Your Head
The SmartNav is a system designed to control a mouse cursor with your head. You set the scary looking thing on top of your monitor, slap a reflective dot on your head, and you're good to go. Unfortunately you're not good to click on things, so you'll have to install a foot pedal or something to make that happen. The unit costs between $240 and $400 depending on the setup, and is guaranteed to make you look cool (see video). I just wish they would have made it so that you could click on things without the need for another device. Maybe if you just bob your head like a chicken twice really fast then that can count as a click. Or make like you're trying to bite your ear. I don't know, something.
A disturbing video of the system in action after the jump.
SmartNav hands-free mouse [ubergizmo]
Reader Comments
1. Illegal Immigrant - December 27, 2007 2:32 PM
Isn't there a whole religion in India that is based on this? Something about dots on the forehead...damn my ignorant and bigoted brain!
2. Belindadee - December 27, 2007 2:39 PM
man, that music makes me uncomfortable. Like the dude in the video is going to try to boink his moniter or something. He keeps making eyes at it.
3. roflcopter - December 27, 2007 3:06 PM
uhm... vista ftw?
4. Fuck - December 27, 2007 4:34 PM
Why the f*** is this video set to an 80's porn track? Is the idea supposed to be that you get 'hands free' operation, which also helps when you're a ginger douche moving his head in slow awkward motions?
5. guy - December 27, 2007 4:57 PM
http://www.ssd.k12.mo.us/Staff/instructional_tools/irc/mouse_alt.html
Check out the "HeadMaster", disabled people have had devices like this for ages. I remember a demo at E3 from a while ago where the games would follow your body when you stuck red dots on your head, hands, knees etc...
Seems like they're just re-re-reinventing the wheel here.
6. DekenFrost - December 27, 2007 6:04 PM
or you could just achieve the same result with a wiimote
7. phil - December 27, 2007 6:08 PM
so what happens when u run outta the little dots, buy more? probally expensive to, what a ripoff
8. Wolf - December 27, 2007 7:10 PM
Hmmm...why not scribble/tatoo a dot on your fingertip of your forfinger (for example) and use simply your hand instead of your whole head. More intuitive and accurate...
9. Necromanson - December 27, 2007 10:53 PM
This thing looks f***ing stupid.
10. CLICK HERE - December 28, 2007 7:03 AM
This is Star Trek, dude!
11. guate6 - December 30, 2007 12:34 AM
I can't...oh wait, yeah...I can believe it. Yet another gimmick. Because, of course, affordable or semi-affordable high-DPI optical mice are a thing of the 21st century, which...um...I guess we're still in, so clearly, there's only room for this product for people who are quadriplegics, or are limb-less.
I don't quite know what to say about this, other than it's stupid. Place a dot on your head? I mean c'mon now...ok so motion capture is neat and fun, but what if you're an architect working on a pc and you are following a fly? Save those plans, and, well, no house will be built, or if built, it'll fail. Hands/fingers are made for fine movements (hence the small muscles/tendons), but not the neck...now if there were a way to put it on the eyes, that'd be different, as the eyes are also precision-instruments.
Why oh why do people persist in making useless, or near-useless crap? It makes me sad that our species has succumbed to this level.
12. MoTT - January 2, 2008 1:35 AM
ive seen something just like this a lottle while ago a disabled man was using it cause he could not use his arms and it worked for him fine and to click you just hole the curser on the area where you wana click for 1 second, you all may find it stupid but it cold help many disabled people in the future, the only thing wrong is how are you soposed to get it on yor head without arms
13. does_it_matter? - January 3, 2008 1:58 AM
why not just put one dot on your index finger for the cursor, one dot on the inside of your thumb and one on the left side of your right index finger's knuckle for clicking purposes? would work 2xs better.