Hello Nelson and all,
I have this mouse and really the idea behind it. One big problem is that
JAWS does not speak what you highlight with the mouse. If one could get
the TTS output to read what the mouse is on, then it would work great. I
love being to use the mouse without sight to explore a screen,
drag-and-drop, and execute commands with the click of a button. You
know, like the majority of computer users do.
-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nelson Blachman
Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2006 7:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VICUG-L] Fwd: The IFeel mouse
Somewhere among the VICUG archives covering the past decade I happened
just now by accident to find the item below concerning the Logitek IFeel
mouse.
This report by an enthusiastic user leads me to ask if there are
others on
this list who've tried out or even bought such a mouse and what their
evaluations might be, as it sounds very useful. I wonder how much it
costs.
--Nelson, Oakland, Calif.
----------
To: [log in to unmask]
From: Debby Franson [log in to unmask]
Hi everyone!
Since this is my first post of the year, I'd like to wish everyone a
belated happy New Year!
I'll warn you that this is going to be a rather long post, so you can
hit
the delete key now, if you are to busy to read it or not interested in
the
subject matter.
I'd like to tell you about one of my cool Christmas gifts. It was the
Logitech iFeel mouse. I'l quote from the box after scanning it in and
cleaning up the text, and then come back to show how it has helped me.
The box reads:
Logitech iFeel"Mouse
Point, Feel and Click
Revolutionary technology adds the sense of feel to your conputing
experience
Feel the web, the desktop and applications through your mouse
Optical technology means
greater accuracy and
no cleaning
5-year warranty
Provides smooth, optical performance
This high-precision mouse glides
across hundreds of surfaces,
recording motion optically without
a ball or rollers.
Interactive experience
Don't just see it, feel it! Until now, using a mouse meant maneuvering a
cursor to align it over a button or link, without the sense of feel.
With
the introduction of IFeel Mouse you can receive realistic tactile
sensations so you don't overshoot icons, buttons and links. The iFeel
Mouse engages your sense of touch for a more natural, intuitive
experience.
Built to last
This mouse is made for a long life with the quality of Logitech, the
world's largest maker of mice, which has sold more than 300 million mice
and the first to introduce a mouse that lets you feel the web and your
desktop.
Designed to fit your hand
Logitech's innovative mouse shape nestles comfortably in your right or
left hand, and puts the buttons and scroll wheel at your fingertips.
iFeel
Mouse has 3 customizable buttons, including the scroll wheel.
I'm back, since that is all from the box.
The tiny bit of printed documentation suggests that you use a mouse pad
for better tactile feedback. The tactile environment can be customized
with several themes, though I have not done that. I want to take the
time
to read the online user manual, since this device is so new to me. It
is
a USB device, so if any of you decide to buy one and are not comfortable
with the new hardware wizard, I suggest you get someone more technical
to
help. There is also software that needs to be installed to provide a
driver and the customizable environment. I have looked around the
software a bit that is accessed from the systray, since it is running at
startup. The software is screan reader friendly, so there shouldn't be
any problems, though it's helpful to have a good relationship with your
Window-eyes mouse keys to make sure nothing important is missed. There
are menus that have to be clicked on to activate rather than the
traditional keyboard activation. There are tabs at the top of the
property
sheet, identified buttons and the sort of track bars that you would find
in the Windows Volume Control.
A Bit About Me And My Experiences With The iFeel Mouse
I am totally dependent on Window-Eyes, not only for reading, but also to
help me find the right clickable item. I keep the monitor off most of
the
time, since I only see light from it. The mouse pointer is impossible
for
me to see.
With a traditional mouse,, I had reached over and clicked it after
Window-Eyes got me to the proper spot, being careful not to move the
mouse
just to give myself variety, though, most of the time, I click and
double-click with the Window-Eyes mouse keys, since they are so handy.
I
have also moved the mouse around the desktop or in an app to have
Window-Eyes read any text the physical mouse happened to find. I would
sometimes try to find and click on icons on the desktop too, and could
do
that okay. That was the limit of my success with a traditional mouse.
I
always try to push the barriers to accessibility back, so, the most
complex thing I have attempted with a traditional mouse was trying to
use
an app that was highly graphical. These Japanese lessons required me to
click on the picture to hear a phrase. I haven't installed that app
again
to try with the iFeel mouse, but with the traditional one, I was totally
lost. I'd be lucky enough to click on a picture occasionally at random,
but more often than not, I'd call up the desktop or click on the
taskbar,
so I gave up, calling that experience frustrating and not practical
meaningful, or useful. Window-Eyes couldn't help me with that CD-ROM of
lessons being that it was totally speech unfriendly.
After getting the iFeel mouse and software installed a few days after
Christmas, I thought I'd push those barriers out as far as possible,
even
if it took me a while. I started out by clicking icons on the desktop,
since I was familiar with that activity. I managed to open My Computer,
so I accessed drives while I was in there, and launched a few programs
by
happening to find their icons after opening the folders. The best way
to
describe the tactile sensation with the default theme is that it
twitches
when it is over an icon, button, link or scrollbar. I can't feel the
difference between those controls, so scrollbars are as inaccessible as
ever, but I had a much better sense of where I was and if I was actually
on an icon or other clickable item. I think specific items can be
customized in the software that offers me the themes, but I haven't
examined it closely enough yet. I am under the impression that various
controls can be given different textures, though I may just be assuming
that and off the mark, since I have little knowledge of the mouse's full
potential, not haveing read the documentation yet.
Once I was used to launching programs from the desktop and my computer
and
then closing them by mousing to the close button with the iFeel mouse, I
decided to get very adventurous with my new friend. I managed to find
the
start button, so I clicked on it. The start menu opened as I expected
it
to do. Since I have an optacon and have seen many screen shots with it
in
computer books about Windows and various apps and had borrowed "Windows
95
Explained", which was a braille volume which included a volume of
tactile
screen shots, I was familiar with the windows in MS Windows and how the
start menu opened to some degree, at least enough to have an idea where
to
attempt to begin exploring.
I have several shortcuts in the uppermost level of the start menu that I
use most often in addition to the ones Microsoft includes, so I followed
the list down carefully iuntil I reached the Programs menu. Just as
many
sighted mouse user beginners have trouble keeping the Programs menu
open,
I did too, since it was difficult to keep the mouse going straight to
the
right, never having done that before. If I moved the mouse a bit in the
wrong direction, the Programs menu would close. I practiced and
improved
enough to keep the Programs menu open, finding items in that menu and
launching a few programs from there, then closing them out one by one if
they were not maximized. If any of them that I launched happened to be
maximized, (I think one was,), I had to touch the keyboard, which I was
treating as mostly off-limits, just to give a program focus so that I
could close with the iFeel mouse again after much searching to find the
Close button.
The last part of this experiment was the most advanced. When I had
everything closed again, I launched the Start menu again, followed the
uppermost level of the start menu, which opened just to the right and a
little above the start button), reading down until I found the dialer
and
dialed into the internet. I followed the Programs menu down after
finding
it to launch Eudora. I then found the menu bar, so I found the File
menu
and opened that, following it down to find the "Check Mail" option and
began checking my mail. I read how many messages I had to download by
mousing the iFeel mous over the message displayed that showed how many
messages were left. When the mail had finished downloading, I couldn't
find the OK button after several seconds, so I just hit Enter. The
Inbox
was open, so I read the message summaries choosing different columns in
several messages, and finally choosing a message at random and reading
it.
I close the message, the Inbox and Eudora, then found the Start Button
again, clicked on it, found the dialer again to open it and eventually
found the close button and logged off the internet.
Whew, that was enough. I think I had played with the mouse for about
three hours altogether with a break somwhere in there for lunch. It
must
have taken me almost an hour to do all of the things I did while logged
into the internet, which would have taken a sighted person less than a
minute. It takes a steady hand and much concentration, so, as you can
imagine, I was a bit tired after all of that detailed work. I just had
to
see how far it was possible for me to go. I realized what a feat I had
accomplished when the experiment was completed. When I got back to the
keyboard for my computing tasks such as launching programs, I
appreciated
it even more, since it is so easy to use. If I had to depend on a
physical mouse, I'd never get anything done, and computing would be too
much of a chore to be worthwhile, so I'm thankful for keyboard shortcuts
and the Window-Eyes mouse keys.
I know that I will never be a mouse user as a sighted person is, and I
expected that. This new friend is not a replacement for the Window-Eyes
mouse keys or a miracle worker, but it is a tool that has helped me
learn
more about using a mouse, though the task of doing it the way I
described
in this message is very very dificult, not only due to so much mental
concentration and physical control, but, without vision, the mouse
pointer
can still get easily lost, because the position of the iFeel mouse on
the
mouse pad has no, or little resemblence to the actual position of the
mouse pointer on screen, since the physical mouse can be lifted and
placed
in a new position without losing the pointer's place if I run out of
space
in one direction on the mouse pad.
I expect to use this mouse as a supplement to the Window-Eyes mouse keys
to get me through a difficult place in an app that is less than speech
friendly. I don't expect it to permit me to use the most graphical
software, but I think it may help me find a control in an app that is
somewhat Window-Eyes hostile.
BTW, my husband found the iFeel mouse at Best Buy if this message has
enticed any of you to get one. Since it was a gift, I have no idea of
the
price.
If any of you have gotten this far, congratulations for finishing this
"tome", so to speak. Thanks for reading. I hope this post has been
interesting, meaningful and helpful to someone.
Bye for now!
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