Regular cursors only affect a single pixel of a computer screen. Programs like Photoshop have different shaped “brushes” that affect multiple pixels at once, which can currently only point in one direction on a computer screen, because of current single point unidirectional input devices and software. Real painters turn their brushes in different directions and at different angles on a canvas in order to paint their paintings, unlike computers.

My idea is to create software (and hardware which I am also conceptualizing) that will allow you to rotate your multi-pixel affecting cursors in different directions on the screen in order to get different effects. This will be great for computer artists, and many other uses as well (which I can’t think of right now…).

I’m not sure if the computer programs’ software will have to be modified, or if the software that goes with the input device will be sufficient.
-- BJS, Jun 23 2006

Directional Computer Stylus Directional_20Computer_20Stylus
[BJS, Jun 24 2006]

Cintiq http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index.cfm
[tcarson, Jun 24 2006]

Intios3 http://www.wacom.co...oductinfo/12x19.cfm
12x19 [BJS, Jun 24 2006]

A Two-Ball Mouse http://acm.org/sigc.../short-talk/sm2.htm
senses orientation [dragice, May 28 2007]

Just rotation? http://www.wacom-as...spec/accessory.html
Try 6D pen input (near the bottom of the page) [neutrinos_shadow, May 28 2007]

check out the wacom cintiq tablet. it has a form of this built into it. a little pricy for me though.
-- tcarson, Jun 24 2006


a form of it?
-- BJS, Jun 24 2006


Cintiq's are angle-sensitive. The Intuos is too. AFAIK neither will detect actual rotation of the pen though.
-- 5th Earth, Jun 25 2006


I think you would need to have the device first and then the software people would need to develop the code to utilize it.

Im sure it could be worked around to utilize currentsoftware(assuming it has a rotational component)

This would also be very useful in a CAD type environment, and in spread sheet work as well.
-- jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006


Couldn't you accomplish this with one of the new mice with both horizontal and vertical scroll wheels? Click with one button, then adjust the angle of your cursor with the wheels. I'm sure many pieces of software could be modified to accommodate this.

Of course, if they are actually wheels and not a trackball like device, you might need to have six fingers on one hand to make it work comfortably.
-- NoOneYouKnow, Jun 30 2006


This would be easy, and could be accomplished with only software. Think of the game tetris. You have two buttons which rotate the piece as it falls, left and right. So all you need is a program that will:

A: Allow you to create a shape for your pointer (meaning the shape of the area of pixels it will affect)

B: Allow you to specify your control buttons (you know, like in a game where you can choose which keyboard buttons fire, jump, run, etc)

C: Rotate the pointer area according to user input and indicate the pointer's alignment via a dynamic cursor.

Basically you would move the cursor the same as ever: with the mouse. But you would specify the shape of the pointer, and you would control its angle with a pair of buttons which cause it to rotate either direction. One hand controls the mouse, the other hand is on the keyboard.

You could even have a ghost image on the top corner of the screen that reflects your cursor's alignment in case you have a hard time telling from the shape or size of the cursor itself. The program's user interface could reside in this ghost images, sort of like the control pad on Google Earth.

And there is your software solution. I'm fairly certain this could be easily coded in any language, but I'm no coder so...
-- phaseinduction, Mar 11 2007


Neither am I...

If you use the keyboard to rotate the cursor, then you need to make sure the keys you use don't effect whatever program you are using.
-- BJS, Mar 11 2007


Sure, but since this application would only be useful for certain types of programs (I'm thinking graphic editors like photoshop etc, maybe video editors as well), then it would really only have to be a patch that could be plugged into those specific programs. I mean, you don't need a variable-angle cursor in a word processor, for example.
-- phaseinduction, Mar 11 2007



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