Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: dag2000 on September 22, 2005, 10:57:44 am

Title: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: dag2000 on September 22, 2005, 10:57:44 am
This  (http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=462)is actually a pretty neat concept, but some evil deep in my heart keeps imagining swim flippers on this guy's feet.

Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: Level42 on September 24, 2005, 03:57:30 am
Uhhhhh, missing link ?
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: quarterback on September 24, 2005, 04:24:20 am
missing link ?

(http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2460/bigfootbig1wc.jpg)
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: paigeoliver on September 24, 2005, 04:43:05 am
That thing would jump out of it's cup if the user did any serious manuevers.
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: dag2000 on September 24, 2005, 05:51:50 pm
Uhhhhh, missing link ?


The link is in the word "This"
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: hypernova on September 24, 2005, 10:04:54 pm
that'd be some SERIOUS exercise on games like centipede and marble madness!  and i bet there's games that'd require more movement than those games.
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: Franco on September 25, 2005, 10:59:27 am
Would make Pacman interesting too if you got it to work digitally! I can imagine running in one direction and looking over my shoulder to see blinky and co chasing!
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: Flinkly on September 25, 2005, 05:23:55 pm
i'd probably trip all the time.
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: nullb0y on September 25, 2005, 07:56:51 pm
oh mannnn
i  MUST HAVE IT!!!
wouldnt be to difficult to make one of those either me thinks
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: Ed_McCarron on September 26, 2005, 12:45:32 am
Sure... Then get yourself a water bottle, some sunflower seeds, and call yourself a hamster. :)
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: ahofle on September 26, 2005, 07:16:01 pm
Ouch... that would hurt when falling off the cliffs in Marble Madness.
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: Effayy on September 27, 2005, 10:23:33 am
That looks like an awesome idea, but there's just one problem I can see with it.

Let's say you're playing a FPS on that bad boy... You start to run with your character, and then stop at a corner or something...  If you were to do this in real life, your body would balance you in such a way that you could quickly decelerate and still be vertical.  On this machine though, you would get the ball rolling at a speed, then when you attempt to stop on a dime, the ball would keep rolling, sending you arse over tea-kettle in the process....

I always imagined that the product that would work best for this sort of thing would be more like a circular convex-shaped treadmill.  It would have rollers on all sides to allow it to move in whatever direction...  And of course, you'd look less like a hamster. :)

- FA
Title: Re: Innovative trackball - a little big for most cabs
Post by: SirPoonga on September 27, 2005, 10:37:35 am
Let's say you're playing a FPS on that bad boy... You start to run with your character, and then stop at a corner or something...  If you were to do this in real life, your body would balance you in such a way that you could quickly decelerate and still be vertical.  On this machine though, you would get the ball rolling at a speed, then when you attempt to stop on a dime, the ball would keep rolling, sending you arse over tea-kettle in the process....
If the ball is approximately your mass then it will work fine as then instead of trying to stop your mass from moving (remember, you are actually not moving relative to the world) you are stopping an equal mass.

How, the problem with this is you are running on a curved surface, it will feel weird.