Bill Buxton's Notes

The No-Hands Mouse consists of two foot pedals, one of which is an alternative to the left and right mouse buttons, and the other is actually a foot-operated joystick cursor control. Together, they offer a hands-free replacement for the mouse.

The pedal that is the button replacement sends a left-mouse-click signal when clicked towards the toe, and right mouse button when clicked towards the heel.

As already mentioned, the cursor control pedal is used as an x/y rate controlled joystick, with direction determined by the direction the pedal is tilted, and the speed by the amount of pressure in that direction, which determines the amount to the tilt.

While generally slower than a hand-operated by a mouse, these controllers have value in cases where the hands are needed for some other task, or in cases where the hands cannot be used, such as due to injury. And, while pointing time may be slower, the device acquisition time is not, when compared cases where the hand must move from the keyboard to the mouse. The reason is that the feet can already be in "home position" for the pedals. Doing so, however, means that the feet need to stay in one position. So, while the pedals may relieve one problem with the hands, they may open up the possibility of introducing a new one with the feet.

The lesson to take from this is that high levels of repetition of anything will eventually cause stress issues. Good posture can reduce the rate of incidence. But the best thing to do, if able, is to always vary it up – reduce stress and reduce repetition.

Bill Buxton
April 2011

Device Details