Having recently dug out my old Wacom graphics tablet, I'm reminded of how useful it is. However, I'm also reminded of how much of a pain it is to be constantly switching between pen and keyboard when I'm doing a fair amount of typing. This is the one aspect where a stylus and tablet are far less convenient than a mouse. The same problem applies when it is necessary to write and type.

Most of this problem is the dilema between finding a place to put down the stylus/pen (where it promptly gets lost or rolls away, if you're like me), and trying to type with it grasped in your mit, which is, to say the least, a little inconvenient. Although it might sound trivial, either takes up a lot of time compared to just moving your hand a few inches. Instead, why not use a holster actually on the hand, which is as simple as possible to use.

I envisage something like one of those weight trainer's gloves, with two rubber O-rings which fit snugly near either end of the pen. One is connected by string to a small spring loaded wheel, the other to a plastic ball joint which moves along a track which runs from under the first and second knuckles on the back of the right (or left) hand to just below the point where a pen would normally rest against the inside edge of the hand, inside the thumb and just below the knuckle.

Not exactly easy to picture, so with the help of rubber-band (c) technology, see the link below for some positional pictures.

Potential problems: the track material - stiff enough to hold in ball joint, flexible enough to fit snugly on a variety of hand shapes; the glove itself - may hinder typing as much as it helps; you'll look really daft using it in the office... unless everyone has one ;op
-- yamahito, Feb 03 2003

Pen/Stylus positions http://www.netc.me....amahito/penpos.html
It's pretty hard to photograph your own right hand, you know... [yamahito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

(?) Effects of Sloe Gin http://www.btintern...t2002/Images/29.jpg
Considerably more dangerouser than pens. [yamahito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

PenMoto http://www.kickstar...oved-and-relaunched
Unbelievably, this vague and unworkable idea is in the oven... [yamahito, Aug 12 2011]

prefer the sloe gin :)
-- po, Feb 03 2003


I'm working on a holster to go on the left hand for that one ;op
-- yamahito, Feb 03 2003


<edit - comment made after advocation of keyboard shortcuts when typing, and left handed keyboard use when drawing>

For pure writing or drawing, that's the best way to be, there's no doubt. For tasks that require a lot of chopping and changing, though, it's a pain. It galls me to think i'm missing out on some of the tablet features (it allows you to define buttons to do different things in different programs; a new discovery) because of how awkward such a trivial thing is.
-- yamahito, Feb 03 2003


yama, I have an even better pic! <g>
-- po, Feb 03 2003



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