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LGR Oddware - The Twiddler (Patreon)

Published:
2022-01-04 00:06:23
Edited:
2022-01-07 17:09:21
Imported:
2022-02

Content

Happy 2022! Have an LGR doodly-doo.

https://youtu.be/HhJGrATZCl0

It was high time for another Oddware, and this one is all about twiddlin' around with the HandyKey Twiddler from 1992. It's a chording keyboard, it's a serial mouse, it's a motion-controlled input device. And it's even somewhat enjoyable to use, for the most part! Perhaps not something that I'd, uh... ever want to with any frequency, frankly. But I get what they were going for and apparently there are still people that swear by these things, so hey. Better outcome than most LGR Oddware videos really.

There are of course a lot more things I could test this with, especially if I were to use some Windows drivers. But the video was already up to the 25 minute mark and I like to keep these episodes between 15 and 25, so yeah. Hope y'all had a happy new years and do enjoy the first LGR episode of '22!

Files

LGR Oddware: Twiddler Motion Controlled Keyboard Mouse from 1992

The HandyKey Twiddler is a handheld chording keyboard, serial mouse, and motion-control input device all in one! And it's even somewhat enjoyable to use, here and there. Playing motion-controlled DOS games is just a trip. ● LGR links: https://www.patreon.com/LazyGameReviews https://www.twitter.com/LazyGameReviews https://www.facebook.com/LazyGameReviews ● All background music licensed from: http://www.epidemicsound.com #LGR #Retro #Oddware

Comments

Tukaro

Classic Blatman villain

Anonymous

Are you going to put the files back on to the floppy?

Anonymous

Fascinating.. Oddware yet not hilariously useless. The mouse part must have been more responsive 30 years ago.(?) Seems like the fluid should be a little more viscous or something. Definitely upload a blerb if you try it out with windows drivers!

LazyGameReviews
>>74954255

Maybe it's possible that some of the fluid has dried up over the decades? Seems unlikely but electrolytic capacitors of that age sure suffer that fate.

Anonymous

I used an air mouse when I instructed in the Air Force years ago. It was extremely intuitive and worked great with my projector while walking around the room and clicking through presentations.

Anonymous

Wanting to leave your dominant hand free as a use case for the “Twiddler” brings some dirty jokes to mind

Travis Snoozy

Hey! An oddware of a thing I [correction: almost; Twiddler 2] actually have! These came up in a conversation just the other day after years of me not thinking about them - I was shocked as part of that conversation to discover that they're still made. What a serendipitous coincidence. :D

Anonymous

Wow....I completely forgot having a Cyberstick until you mentioned it. Core memory unlocked 😳

Chad Armstrong

I can imagine a Bond villain using this.

Anonymous

Seems like the real failure is having the chords be alphabetical instead of closer tuned to usage. Is there a dvorak-esque alternative keymap used by enthusiasts?

Pablo Rodriguez

"I love the Twiddler. It's so bad." Every time I see the Rerez guys complain about motion controls on the Wii I think if they tried to use any of these old devices their heads would probably end up exploding. I can see myself getting used to a keyboard like this (it took me a while to get used to writing text messages in old style cellphones, but once I did I was incredibly fast), but I wouldn't even consider getting one unless I had an absolute necessity.

Alyxx the Rat

This seems simultaneously extremely useful and entirely useless depending on what type of PC user you are. Motion controls on DOS tho.

Anonymous

When Nintendo came out with the Wii they said very specifically what they were doing was not innovative from a technology standpoint. The tech had been around for a long long time, just no one had ever applied it to games before. Yet the average person still thinks Nintendo invented the motion control stick. Eh, what are you going to do right? I think the twiddler been similar input devices deserve more credit than they get.

Anonymous

Let me tell you, I might have used this thing back in the day. The first 486 I ever got was a used Packard Bell. Not one week after I got it the keyboard shorted out. I couldn't use any keyboard on it. The fact that the twiddler could type stuff without actually using the keyboard port would really have saved me. For about 6 months I was editing DOS batch files to launch a game and using the control pad. It was not a fantastic experience obviously.

Anonymous

Nothing like watching a man fiddle with his twiddler to start the day lol I can imagine this thing would be frustrating to learn, it reminds me of all these crazy ergo keyboards with funky layouts. I never could figure out how people use them, especially since I myself am more of a hunt and peck typer

Andy Ihnatko

These were popular with researchers developing protozoan wearable computers. Like, literally a huge waistpack stuffed with computers and batteries, and a viewfinder from an old-timey camcorder epoxied onto a pair of safety glasses. You'd see them on the MIT campus from time to time in the 90s.

Evan B

"I'm gunna kill you with a Twiddler!" lol .. nice

Dukefazon

You know there was at least 1 dude who was so good at this, he ruled the chat rooms/forums/BBSs with one of those, whipping out posts after posts with it. "Nobody puts Duke in the corner" :D Imagine having a lan party deathmatch and everyone tries to play with a Twiddler! It would be insane! It's giving me sympathy hand cramps watching you fiddle with the Twiddler :S

Carey Brown

Devices like this make me appreciate just how "revolutionary" the 6-axis ICs developed and used in the Wii-motes really had on motion control devices. Things like this always felt like a niche market device. If you had a need, it would work fantastically well but it just wasn't for the average user. I'll stick with my IBM 101-key keyboard

Novel

One day I hope to see you did a "top ten best and worst oddware" video. Because some stuff you have shown has been pretty amazing (The Sega PC etc) and things that are just awful (the Demon Gunn.. Oh god). Maybe a 15 year anniversary video or something haha. Also good luck with your surrogate cat mothering.

Deryn L.

I'm wondering how well these would work for people with certain disabilities, considering it still requires some finger agility to an extent. Excellent video!

CubicleNate

I never heard of this or any of the future items but I think this is pretty cool, for sure!