Two mice cursors
 

How come nobody has even made a program to make two mouse cursors yet ? It would reduce fatigue. And would just be dam faster. And cool like you are running a star ship. Even cooler in a 3d game or 3D modeling program.

Me confused
 

2 mouse cursors? What do you mean by that? 1 mouse to run 2 cursors on the screen? How would you specify which one you wanted to be moving at any one time? Would you really gain any productivity?

Sure, you have a left mouse and a right mouse, click with both hands. Double-clicking is MUCH faster, and smoother, too. (Is that right-left, or left-right?) Great for shoot-em-up games. Hard to remember when the left cursor slides to the right side of the screen (Is that what they call a crossover cursor?)

i'd buy that. and when someone comes out with a computer that will let you plug in two mice, all the better.

i mean, really...you have to lift your right hand (if youre right handed) off the keyboard to use the mouse anyway...how much would you really lose by lifting your left hand for another mouse.

combine the two and you could have four cursors screaming around the screen. in page layout this would be great...i could use my left hand for selecting tools and pulling down menus. i'd save my right hand for drawing either on the left side of the screen (left mouse cursor) and the right side of the screen (right cursor)

and, if you had dual monitors....oooh man! think of the possibilities.

Sensory overload! Brain freeze!

As soon as someone develops a brain that allows me to focus on all of this stuff, I'll consider buying it.

How about two cursors with two different people operating each cursor? And one person at a remote location?

http://vodreal.stanford.edu/engel/25engel200.ram

This was done in 1968. Frankly, everything was done at this demo in 1968. It is the most significant computing event of the last 50 years. If the Mac was born in 1984, then the genetic material for the Mac was created at this demo.

http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html

It's like Moses descending from the mountain with the 15, no 10 commandments. It's like The Ramones touring Britain and playing for all of the punk rockers there who weren't even in bands yet.

It's funny, my friend actually asked me the same thing: since macs actually support dual monitors without having to install any additional software, do they also supported dual mice?

At first it didn't make much sense to me. But then he explained; the keyboard works as a dual USB hub, you can actually connect two mice to it, one on each side. When you connect a second mouse a second cursor should show up on the screen.

This would be, he argued, much more natural since we have two hands. One could hold a file with the left cursor, while with the right one you navigate to the right folder, then drop in your file. You could scrub your timeline in FinalCut while making changes with your other hand, you could have different tools selected with each hand in photoshop (erase and draw, different colored paintbrushes, dodge and burn).

In fact there are two possible implementations. The first where each cursor can handle a different tool, the second where both cursors act as one tool. In the second case one could keep the more able hand over the image to paint, draw, select, modify, etc. and keep the less able hand over the menus and panels switching tools, brush sizes, etc.

The possibilities are endless and very cool. I'm not sure this could be hacked into the system or if it would have to come from apple (maybe the second implementation mentioned above would be simpler and more easily hacked in), but personally after thinking about it for a bit, an idea I thought was a bit dumb actually sounds very cool.

In fact if one got used to working like this, working with just one hand would seem weird and limiting. Also you can combine this with dual monitors and it'd almost be like having two computers. You can keep one hand in the second monitor with all your tools open, or even use two applications simultaneously.

I did leave feedback for apple, but it's an easy to ignore request.


v

P.D: This thread should probably go into tweaking or wish list.

Can you imagine piloting a TomCat with two people? One to fly the plane, the other to fire weapons? Of course, Maverick does both and all Goose did was rebuke, "Don't do it Mav!"

Seriously, I think this is a good idea. It could be easily implimented by additional software from a manufacturer such as Kensington. Perhaps someone could write them with the suggestion. Call it, MouseMate.

and here i thot satire was a dead art. ok people, time to stop feeding the trolls. (theyre like dogs...they'll eat till they die ya know)

sweet fishys! Every thing every boby said is what I was thinking but just could not say.

It would be super powerful to have two cursors. They could be different colors. OR the left one would be a reversed icon that points to the left instead. That makes sence.

So can some body do it. Of course it would have to be a hack that lives in something like USB overdrive.

I myself have two mice connected right now. One is faster at sliding and had more buttons and the other has air blowing out of it and scrolls better. Heaven sorta

^v^ Maybe we should bombard Unsanity about this.

ONLY ONE PROBLEM
 

MAC USERS CANT EVEN HANDLE A 2 BUTTON MOUSE, REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The 2 mouse idea is a awesome idea for win32.

:D

Re: ONLY ONE PROBLEM
 

NO ! :p True Mac Artists and Techies Learn fast that they must have a Logitech 20 button mouse (give or take). I have this mouse that blows air into my hand, very cool. Two would be even sweeter. ! ^v^

Re: Re: ONLY ONE PROBLEM
 

link?

2 cursors - thats crazy!!!

I used to be able to do that with my Amiga back in the day...

t'would be kinda cool, but uses would be a bit limited unless you're ambidextrous. Learning and creating KB shortcuts is, I reckon a much better way to speed up productivity by doing lots of stuff at the same time.

I don't see why you'd have to be ambidextrous. I think it could be very interesting if you can just envision the effects it would have once the creative UI people get to it.

Examples off the top of my head:

* Move a file by holding it in one hand and navigating/moving windows, with the other (what reveal desktop, spring loaded folders and xshelf are for).

* Move the page while drawing in Photoshop or other graphics program. When you're drawing with paper you use one hand for most of the work (holding the pen or pencil) while the other just moves, rotates and stabilizes the page.

* Editing could be interesting by having one hand to scrub and setting keyframes or doing other things with the other.

I think the most interesting thing that could come of this fundamental change is accepting multiple inputs. This could be a change like multitasking in OS X, where you could manipulate a window while dragging it. The possibilities of other input devices besides another mouse could also be very interesting.

Right now I have a powermate and I love it. Having a separate scroll button (plus other functions with click, long-click, scroll-click) really makes my reading on the computer much more pleasurable. I miss it when I'm on other computers (like now, i'm on vacation). I have friends with a shuttle pro and they really can't do without it, especially while editing.


v

ya but will any one ever listen and try to build it ? I for one would use it constanlty. Yeah that and I would love if someone would make the eye toy to control the interface. Move hand click folder. Sweet!

I've seen academic papers about this idea. Lab research proved that two cursors were better than one. The ability to grab both corners of an object, select an object with one hand and grab a tool with the other improved productivity. Another neat idea was a Mouse with built-in Trackpoint that beat the pants off a scroll mouse for usability.

Oh, and if you want to mess with someone, just plug a second mouse into their system and move it while they are trying to do something -- definitely a mind blower to have the cursor move on its own. :D

Eh that mouse is weird , two mice would let you mix and match mice types.

two cursors would be such a good idea!! :D

i'd be one of the first in line to try that out! :D

pas trop fou !
 

j'utilise 2 ecran avec un logiciel de detail de structure d'acier...

j'aimerais bien avoir 2 souris et 2 cursor ca serait fou....

Please try to keep it in English, as this site is rooted in English-speaking help.

Thanks.

I found it!!
 

I exists! Look that up : http://www.dualosx.com/dualosx_en.htm
It works only with new Intel Core 2 Duo, because it allows multiple inputs. 3 years of search for a handy solution. Congratulation DualOsx! :D

Interesting. That would be nice for multiple monitors, but I still think it would be confusing. :)

Well, there's Wraparound

So disappointed it's a vaporware.
That would have been great for XP (2 people coding with 2 mouses/keyboards on one computer).