Digital Picture Frame Design and Ideas for a invisible mouse
Tom
I am setting up a digital picture frame to display all of our digital
pictures. I have purchased a 15" LCD screen from Sams club for $250.
I have removed the bezel and so I can mount it in a hole I have cut in
the sheetrock. I then framed the LCD to make it look exactly like a
normal picture frame. I have a home automation server/computer just
inside the wall where I mounted the LCD. I am using a program called
screenpaver to run through all of our images. Now that I have the
frame up I would like to use the frame to access other stuff as well…
Read Email, Web, Weather station, etc… I only need to add a mouse to
get the functionality I desire.
I have come up with a few possibilities and would like your opinions
and suggestions. The digital picture frame has a high WAF (wife
acceptance factor) and I know that wires / mice hanging from the wall
would not :)
1. Ideally I would have used a touch screen monitor, but they are cost
prohibitive and tend to distort the image quality so that is out of
the question.
2. I could use a gyration mouse (or any mouse that does not require a
surface). The frame is in a hallway, and there is no place nearby to
store a mouse and having to retrieve it from 5 – 10 feet away defeats
the convenience factor.
3. A touchpad (like used on a laptop) placed behind an adjacent real
picture frame. The real picture frame would be hinged so you could
open it like a door and the touchpad would be mounted behind it. I
could possibly hold the hinge shut with a magnet.
4. I have been playing with a laptop touchpad and have found that you
can still use the touchpad with 5 – 10 sheets of paper between your
finger and the touchpad. I thought I would experiment with hiding the
touchpad behind a thin layer of joint compound. If I can get this to
work, then I could move the cursor by simply moving your finger on the
wall. (No visible touchpad or wires)or is there some other material
that the touch pad can "see through"
Thanks for you input,
Tom
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Xlent1Guy
>touchpad behind a thin layer of joint compound.
Are you and your guests going to be wearing gloves? Or do you like painting
your walls after all those greasy finger prints wont wash off anymore? How
about a speach recognition program?
wkearney99
> and suggestions. The digital picture frame has a high WAF (wife
> acceptance factor) and I know that wires / mice hanging from the wall
> would not :)
>
> 1. Ideally I would have used a touch screen monitor, but they are cost
> prohibitive and tend to distort the image quality so that is out of
> the question.
They are a cost factor. But the LCD units are less of a distortion issue than
that on glass CRTs.
> 2. I could use a gyration mouse (or any mouse that does not require a
> surface). The frame is in a hallway, and there is no place nearby to
> store a mouse and having to retrieve it from 5 - 10 feet away defeats
> the convenience factor.
Use an RF remote control and an interface to the PC driving the screen. Most
act either as a mouse or as a keypad of functions. Use the Girder program on
the PC to intercept and handle the various buttons. X-10 and Radio Shack make
RF remotes that are both cheap and quite handy.
> 3. A touchpad (like used on a laptop) placed behind an adjacent real
> picture frame. The real picture frame would be hinged so you could
> open it like a door and the touchpad would be mounted behind it. I
> could possibly hold the hinge shut with a magnet.
Nah, too much geek factor. WAF is too low.
> 4. I have been playing with a laptop touchpad and have found that you
> can still use the touchpad with 5 - 10 sheets of paper between your
> finger and the touchpad. I thought I would experiment with hiding the
> touchpad behind a thin layer of joint compound. If I can get this to
> work, then I could move the cursor by simply moving your finger on the
> wall. (No visible touchpad or wires)or is there some other material
> that the touch pad can "see through"
No, that's a bad idea. Finger grime being the biggest factor. Secondly there's
the issue of paper not having a constant pressure on the screen. Joint compound
would be exerting much more tension (and would also shrink as it dried). No,
this is just a horrible idea.
I seem to recall some sensors that had a proxmity sensor. Intended more for
'wave of the hand' on/off functionality rather than fine-grained control.
Also consider than some touchscreens do operate based on RF or IR grids. An old
HP desktop (and I'm talking mid-80's) used a bezel on the monitor's frame that
had an array of IR emitters and receivers. The control was pretty grainy,
something like a grid of 40 wide by 20 tall but good enough for the applications
involved. Basically it just detected a break in the IR stream at the XY points.
I believe some other systems used RF for the same general idea. I've no idea if
anyone's shipping anything similar these days.
I'm not certain but it seems like some of the entertainment consoles in pubs
might use the same sort of thing. Using capacitive resistance or even pressure
on a screen that has to exist in such a harsh environment seems unlikely. Some
drunk with a set of car keys, losing to the game, would destroy most of the
touchscreens I've ever seen.
Frankly it might be easiest to go the RF remote control route. Sure, you'd have
to use the remote to switch things but this is an interface people are
comfortable learning. Besides, you'd also get to use it from anywhere in the
room, not just stuck in front of the picture itself with your arm stuck out.
I've read studies over the years and what a lot of geeks fail to realize is
touch screens in the vertical plane require arms like a gorilla. Using a
vertical screen for anything other than /very/ intermittent and casual use it
extremely tiring on the forearm and shoulder.
-Bill Kearney
Lucas Tam
@posting.google.com:
> 2. I could use a gyration mouse (or any mouse that does not require a
> surface). The frame is in a hallway, and there is no place nearby to
> store a mouse and having to retrieve it from 5 - 10 feet away defeats
> the convenience factor.
How about holder underneath the picture frame to hold the mouse/controller?
--
Lucas Tam (REMOV...@rogers.com)
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