Looking for feedback from touchscreen users

Rhino Windows Hardware
1

Hi.

I have a problem that requires some feedback. I’ve created a technology to hold desktop touchscreens.

The technology allows you to use a larger touchscreen (such as Wacom Cintiq) as both a monitor and a touchscreen.

It works by making it quick and weightless to transition between two modes:
monitor mode (Vertical screen, remote from user, mouse and keyboard for input)
touch mode (Horizontal tilted screen, close to user, touch or stylus for input)
The mechanism operates similar to Microsoft Surface Studio but kicks out the screen much farther. The screen travels above the mouse and keyboard and comes to rest in front of them.

It’s a pretty good solution to the Gorilla Arm problem. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-touch-screens-will-not-take-over/)

All that said… I have to figure out if design makes sense for Rhino touchscreen users.

Would this concept be useful to you? Or are you happy with your current setup? All comments are welcome.

Note: I’m using a vague description of the features because I don’t want this to sound like a marketing pitch. Just looking for honest feedback to a general concept.

Thanks for your time,
Chris Myerchin

2

I’ve never found touchscreens to be of much use with Rhino.
I have a Dell 27" touch screen desktop and a Microsoft Surface Pro both with touchscreens. For Rhino, I use a mouse on both.

For example how do you mimic a “mouse over” event with a touch screen?
Lot’s of Rhino’s feedback happens with mouse over events, like Osnap verification.

That’s just one simple specific example.

3

Nice point.
I did a little reading and found that Microsoft suggests:

  • With one finger touch the area you want to mouse over, but keep your finger down.
  • Touch another point on the screen then remove the first finger then remove the second point.

I don’t have Rhino installed but I tried the trick on some other programs and it “kinda” works. The results aren’t quite the same but it’s similar.

I don’t have SurfacePro but I’m surprised there is no hover feature with it’s pen.

Thanks for your feedback.

4

Other considerations for Rhino are:

  • separate commands for both left mouse and right mouse clicking a toolbar icon
  • Mouse over, down-click, and up-click behaviors
  • Tooltips that describe what the left and right mouse clicks do over toolbar icons
  • Right click and drag for view panning in parallel projection viewports, and view rotation in perspective projection views
  • etc.
5

Many users of professional level Touch devices, such as the Wacom Cintiq models use flexible monitor arms, which I find a very nice solution to the problem you describe. One isn’t stuck to just two positions but may also have the device lying weightlessly in the lap, use it in horizontal or vertical orientation and in any other thinkable position in between. Here’s a list with some quick youtube-search results on this matter.

I have a Cintiq but as Rhino has no support whatsoever for pen pressure / tilt driven input I use a Mouse and conventional monitor here.

6

Thanks for your comments hifred.

I’m getting the understanding there are not a lot of touchscreen users with Rhino.

Note:
I sat at a desk with two ergotron arms for about a year. I found they were wobbly, had a limited reach and were hard to re-position.

My vision for a product emphasizes the ease of moving the monitor. Lightly grip a touch sensitive zone on the monitor, and easily move the screen, when touch is released the screen is magnetically locked in place.

hifred,
Do you use a flexible monitor arm with your Cintiq? If you could transition it between touch and monitor modes in one quick moment, would it have value to you?

7

[quote=“ChrisM, post:6, topic:41424”] Do you use a flexible monitor arm with your Cintiq? If you could transition it between touch and monitor modes in one quick moment, would it have value to you?
[/quote]

Not right now but I might switch over with the next model.

This is probably a good solution for those who want to work with just one display – I use 3 screens in total. When retouching photos I can zoom in closely on the Cintiq and have an overview view of the same file visible on another screen, which I find extremely useful. You guessed it already – I do not miss this quick-switch-capability, no.

What I personally find painful and not yet solved convincingly is using the keyboard in conjunction with large pen displays. Putting the keyboard somewhere to the side and and instead driving programs only via Express Keys + software buttons is not how I want to work.

8

Hilfred,

Have you seen, Cintweek its a simple attachment to Velcro a keyboard on the top of your Cintiq.

9

Thanks, I didn’t know this particular product but I’ve seen comparable hacks with Mac Keyboards and have built a similar addon myself. I’ve used this keyboard position for years and it’s probably one of the better options.

What’s not so good is how high this extension makes the Cintiq, even in a low tilt angle position. Not good for working with additional monitors (> my version therefore is angled downwards, so that it doesn’t make the device that much higher).

Also having to stretch out so far isn’t exactly great for typing longer texts. One either needs to re-position the keyboard for text editing or plug in a secondary keyboard.

10

It sounds like your set up has a Cintiq at a low angel directly in front of you, a monitor behind the Cintiq and a keyboard off to the side. Am I correct?

11

No, as stated, my setup is similar to the product you linked, but my keyboard doesn’t follow the angle of the Cintiq. It’s tilted downwards a little, so that it has approximately the inclination angle of a keyboard standing on a desk.