Operating
guide for the TouchStream Mini USB Keyboard.
If
you are not using Windows with your Mini Keyboard you
will have to reconfigure your
unit. It only takes a few seconds.
How
Does it Work? Your MultiTouch unit consists of two
main components: a Hand Imaging Surface (the touch surface)
and a Gesture Processor. The MultiTouch Gesture Processor
watches the touch surface all the time. It's always looking
to see which fingers are touching and what they are doing.
The Gesture Processor ignores touching and movement that
are not valid gestures or valid typing, so this allows
you to rest your hand on the surface without causing spurious
input.
Interacting
with MultiTouch is a form of communication. You generate
gestures and the Gesture Processor reads them and tries
to interpret the meaning of your gestures. You can easily
confuse the Gesture Processor if you don't communicate
clearly - just like you can confuse a careful listener
if you garble your speech. The MultiTouch unit will serve
you well if you communicate with it clearly.
There
are five rules that must be followed to ensure clear communication
with your MultiTouch device.
Interacting
With Your MultiTouch Device - The Golden Rules
- Touch
the surface with the correct number of finger tips
(Note that this applies to only the initial contact;
after the initial contact has been made the remaining
fingers may touch down on the surface)
- Keep
the fingers slightly spread - keep them relaxed
not tightly bunched
- Maintain
contact with the surface during movement - relax
and let gravity do its job
- Keep
the thumb separated from the other fingers
- Finger
taps should be light and crisp - don't
bang the keys, save your fingers
Additional
information and guidance on each of these rules is given
below.
Rule
1: Touch the surface with the correct number of finger
tips. Clear communication involves touching the surface
with the correct finger tips for the desired gesture.This
is required because each gesture is associated with a
particular set of finger tips that initially touch the
surface. In other words, those finger tips that simultaneously
contact the surface are used to identify the intended
gesture. For example, the mouse operations of point, drag,
and scroll are launched by initial contact of adjacent
fingers: two finger tips initially touching means pointing,
three mean drag, and four mean scroll.
Some
of the gestures allow you to drop the non-involved fingers
after initially touching the surface with the correct
(involved) fingers. Practicing this helps to reduce hand
fatique. Note that you do not have to drop the non-involved
fingers but you may find that it is more comfortable if
you do. You can also lift all but one finger without interrupting
the operation you started using more fingers. Here's an
example of pointing using all five fingers.
- Touch
any two adjacent fingers on the MultiTouch surface.
- Begin
moving fingers in desired direction.
- Drop
remaining fingers and thumb onto surface and continue
movement.
Rule
2: Keep the fingers slightly spread - keep them relaxed
not tightly bunched.
It's not easy to do, but it is possible to fool the Gesture
Processor into thinking that one finger is touching the
surface when in fact two are. This can occur if you have
small fingers and you squeeze them so tightly together
that they look like one large finger. Obviously, it isn't
your intent to fool your system so relax your fingers
and keep them slightly separated for all operations.
Rule
3: Maintain contact with the surface during movement.
If
all your fingers come off the surface during a gesture
operation the Gesture Processor will interpret that as
a signal from you that the operation in progress has concluded.
Relax and let the weight of your hand keep your fingers
on the surface as they slide across it.
Rule
4: Keep the thumb apart from the other fingers.
The
Gesture Processor might think that the thumb is just another
finger if it "sees" it in a position where it
should not be. For example, if you put your thumb right
next to your index and middle fingers it may look to the
MultiTouch software like you have touched down three fingers
instead of two fingers and a thumb. Avoid confusing your
MultiTouch unit by keeping the thumb comfortably away
from the other fingers.
Rule
5: Finger taps should be light and crisp. - Hitting
the surface hard with your finger tips is not good for
your fingers. For typing, the Gesture Processor pretty
much ignores how hard you hit the surface and really only
cares how long your finger tip stays on the key you are
trying to type. If you stay too long the Gesture Processor
will assume you are resting your finger and the key will
not be entered. For reliable operation make sure your
key taps and mouse clicks are light and reasonably quick.
Practice typing using the number pad to get the feel of
it.
Of
course, you don't have to use finger tips to point, click,
drag, and scroll. Knuckles
work just as well.
What
to Learn First - Using the MultiTouch surface is very
easy. Click here for typing
tips and modifier gestures. You don't have to learn
all the gestures that the unit recognizes to have fun
and to be more productive. About the only gestures you
really have to learn are those that allow you to point
and click, but most people will want to learn many more.
We
suggest you learn the basic mouse
gestures first (i.e., point, click, drag, scroll).
These are very easy and only take a few minutes to learn.
The most difficult thing to remember when using MultiTouch
is to stay relaxed and not be afraid to touch the surface
with other fingers or the whole hand.
You
might want to learn the web
browsing gestures next. The back. forward, and scroll
gestures save a lot of effort while the zooming gestures
allow you to change text to a convenient size.These same
gestures are used in many other places such as navigating
through directories or editing documents.
For
those that do a lot of document processing you will find
that the editing,
text, and
file gestures really
help to make the process faster and simpler. Once you
learn the gestures you'll never go back to the old method
of moving the pointer to a menu, selecting the operation,
and finally clicking.
For
Windows users: You may want to install sound generation
code that alllows you to associate different sounds with
mouse and gesture events. click
here for download
For
mobile users: If you plan to hold the Mini in your
hand while using it be sure that the thumb of the hand
doing the holding is not touching the surface. Hold the
unit by gripping the plastic enclosure to prevent touching
the surface and thus causing the Pad to think you are
trying to use a new gesture.
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