Valve tried tongue-tied interface controller Valve boss Gabe Newell revealed the company has experimented with "tongue controllers" in a bid to discover the next fad in computer interfacing. The Valve topdog reckons the tongue is a "pretty good way of connecting a mechanical system to your brain" and as such, flirted with the concept as a way of speeding up communication …
Controller brain caps, that's what. Take motion out of the controller equation entirely and allow us to perform actions simply by thinking about them. And unlike the tongue controller, there is genuine research into this as it is nearly the only option available to the severely paralyzed (like Stephen Hawking) who are barely able to move themselves.
Just get another computer to respond to the action and you don't have to even think about it!
Touch is only useful when you've got nothing else. Look at gamers - generally they'll use laser mice which require only very small, precise movements. Having "nothing else" isn't always bad, it just has a restricted field of use.
Even on a tablet, most on-screen keyboards are too large. Far better to have an almost-phone sized keyboard you can use with just your thumb (swype). It's faster and more comfortable than poking the unyielding glass screen with one finger (as the other hand has to hold the thing).
...I can assure you pal that using your tongue is not a "pretty good way of connecting a mechanical system to your brain" unless you happen to have some kind of disability in which case it could be very cool or you are very eccentric in which case it may be totally normal.
Other than that, its not pretty good at all - all the slime, bad breath, flakes of pork pie or sushi depending on your diet - its just gross!
I'm sorry but I do not want my next game controller to be made by oral-b!
there have been a few systems that have tried to use optical>electrical systems to create a workable 'obstacle avoiding' (or better) system for blind people... the question is, how do you rely this information to their brain? Some sysetms have used sound, akin to a bat. Some have used actuators on a chair, to press into the user's back... I seem to recall that some have used the tongue- evidently some of the engineers responsible have at one time placed their tongue across the contacts of a PP9 (the oblong 9v battery you stick in smoke alarms)
When Gabe said he was playing around with sign language for the next Half Life? I'm starting to wonder if the continuing non-appearance of Half Life 3 (2 episode 3 for that matter) is due to excessive executive meddling. Can't we just have a traditional health packs 'n' headcraps FPS? I liked all the other ones you did.
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