(Published 22 March 2022)

The idea

I'm thinking of a course and fine method of keying in mouse positions for even faster and more accurate GUI control. The coarse method would be A00 - A99 and the fine would be 001 - 999. In both cases, the left thumb first covers the trackpad so that Tetent goes into mouse position entry mode instead of keyboard mode.

For the coarse method, I was thinking of either

• First Tetent selects from a 10 x 10 grid, second Tetent selects from a 10 x 10 grid inside
• First Tetent selects horizontal (or vertical) in a 100 x 100 grid, and the second Tetent selects the other axis.

and for the fine method, I was thinking of the second option from a 999 x 999 grid. (Tetent = 000 not included). So that clicking in the centre of the screen is possible, the method might use a 9x9 and 99x99 grid respectively instead.

On 1080p or lower (or UI's designed for touch input), I think the coarse method is good enough. For 1440p (or 4K @ 150% scaling), it seems that a 200 x 200 grid would be preferable. Teti has 3 4K panels stacked vertically, and a 999 x 999 grid without having to first select the target screen sounds like I'd be able to get a decent amount of precision. (333 x 999 per screen)

This idea could also be thought of as binding a keyboard shortcut to a (fullscreen) program where a specific UI element doesn't have it. (Fusion 360 feature settings window, I'm looking at you)

Obviously, the main question is "How do I know what location on-screen corresponds to the grid square?". 

• Solution using installed software: An overlay that shows the colum/row selected
• Solution using Tetent only: Sending signals to pretend that the mouse is actually a hovering stylus

I also want a way of putting in 2 or 3 coordinates so that linear and spline motions of the cursor can be keyed in. (I was thinking of how this could be used in something like Inkscape)

Click methods

• 000 -> non 0 input -> quick return to 000 = A location in a column / row has been clicked
  • This is so only one hand needs to lift off the buttons, making it faster to click subsequent UI elements on the same column / row
  • A slow return to 000 implies that the user wants to correct a mistake
• If no modifiers are selected with the right thumb, it's a left click (or opposite if left handed)
  • There will be a button for double click, right click, no click (just move mouse into position), click and hold on the right thumb
• For single handed use, the 9 x 9 grid is used. For this, the default would be no-click and intended to reduce the amount of thumb movement on the trackpad.
  • Trackpad momentum may be difficult to control accurately.
  • Another option is entering the column and row in sequence, as it may be faster than accurately positioning the mouse with the trackpad.
  • A third option I just thought of is being able to lock the mouse into a specific row or column.