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Comment by wlesieutre | Hacker News Reader

Looks like a more flexible (and wireless) version of Griffin's PowerMate[1]. The last hardware I crowdfunded is still mired in delays, but I like this idea enough to try it again.

A couple of questions, if you don't mind:

* Roughly how heavy is it? For physical objects like knobs, I like a bit of heft. Not as big a deal here as in a SpaceNavigator where it's pushing back instead of spinning freely, but I'm curious.

* Specs mention a 4 month battery life. Is that a AAA where I can use a rechargeable, or some sort of button cell? Or not yet finalized?

* How does software support work? I see it has smooth brush size control in Photoshop, but can I expect it to work that well in less common software like Leonardo or Mischief? Or will it have to be bound to keyboard shortcuts that change things in large steps like the square brackets in Photoshop?

Thanks!

[1] http://store.griffintechnology.com/powermate

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thanks. Would love you as a backer. Please let me know which tools you want this to work with and we'll implement it. powermate: Yes, we have used it. We like it. It was too limiting for what we needed and we wanted it to be more portable and other materials. Weight: roughly 300 grams. That's one of the reasons we used metal, to make it heavier. We're also using a slip-resistant material on the bottom so it won't slip around. * Battery: We have worked built prototypes with both batteries, AAA and coin cells. This is one thing we're focusing on right now. We will definitely post an update on the campaign asap. Your thoughts from the user side would also be appreciated. * Software: The first and easiest form is using keyboard shortcuts and mapping it to an application. The second form is through scripts like Apple scripts.

I have a BC-700 charger and a bunch of low self discharge AAs and AAAs that I use in practically everything (game controllers, wireless mouse, TV/roku remotes, headlamp, and things I'm probably forgetting), so put me in as a vote for AAA.

For the slip resistant material, I don't know if it exists, but something that isn't a dust magnet would be great. I've noticed with my SpaceNavigator that the ring of rubber on the bottom tends to accumulate dust and start slipping until I wipe it down periodically. Again a bigger deal for them, since their 6-axis devices include pushing sideways as an input.

As far as software support, Mischief does 1px increments with [], so that one's easy. And open source programs like GIMP and Blender could always be modified if needed. So I guess I'm not too worried about software.

This is a kind of niche thought, but I wonder if I could suction cup it to the back of a Surface Pro. I tend to sketch with the tablet in my lap and no good place to set a Flow. Chairs with no tables, flopped on couches, etc.

Went ahead and backed it! The $20 worldwide shipping is a bummer, but I'm glad it's been priced into it. IIRC that's one of the big problems that Apollo Pens ran into.

Thanks you for the thorough response. Really valuable and thanks for backing us. I would love to stay in contact and talk more in detail about the suction cup, software etc. Please feel free to send me an email: hi@senic.com and we can take it from there.

  Looks like a more flexible (and wireless) version of Griffin's PowerMate[1].

Well, more flexible at least. http://griffintechnology.com/powermate-bluetooth

I used to use the wired version of this one. More specialized for 3D navigation, but pretty configurable, just like the rest. http://www.3dconnexion.com/products/spacemousewireless.html

I also use the wired SpaceNavigator. For a long time they weren't usable at all outside 3D apps. Prior to v10 of the drivers, they were adamant that all software developers should support it natively instead of letting it emulate joysticks and other already supported devices. Definitely got more useful when they added that.

It's a fairly different piece of equipment though, I'd compare the SpaceNavigator to a joystick or thumbstick (with 4 extra degrees of freedom) moreso than a knob, despite looking like one. I've never had much luck getting a balance of speed and accuracy with it, movement either feels slow, or you crank the sensitivity up and it becomes hard to do small motions accurately. Kind of like a gamepad as compared to a mouse; you have a quarter inch of motion and a few degrees of tilting to work with, and you can't map all of the different speeds you'd like to move at into that space.

I like knobs because they allow for a great mix of speed and precision. I know what half a turn does on my computer's volume knob, and I can do it a lot faster than "push the spacenavigator sideways a bit, hold it there until the volume is where I want it, then let go."

Which isn't to say the SpaceNavigator is a bad device. It just serves a different purpose.

IMO Flow's biggest competitor is the touch wheel on Wacom's Intuos line. Among professionals who spend time in Photoshop, they're extremely common. No such wheel on a Surface though, and having a few shortcuts that I can map without hooking up the keyboard would be a nice addition. Hoping this pans out!

sorry for the messed up formatting.

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