Tablet Input For Multiboxing

[Xzin]

In redesigning my input systems, I came across Wacom's Cintiq line of tablet devices. At $1000 and $2000 each, they are not cheap but with 5 of those, one could in theory create just about as good of an input system as possible. You could use one pen to target (and possibly setup some method to click on all at the same time by sending mouse clicks) and you could see all of the screens at once (and interact with them directly). You would need a custom mounting solution for them all or could possibly go with a single central Cintiq 21UX and software box on that.

Not sure how it shows up though - if it is simply a mirrored display that overlays the tablet input or if it acts like a (slow) 3d video card.

But in theory, this would be a great input method - direct clicking of opponents in Arenas, etc.

Anybody have any other thoughts?

[Frosty]

I've used tablets before with Photoshop, and they work great for that..but it sounds sort of painful to play a game with a pen.
But then again, people use those track balls just fine, so I guess once you got the feel for it, it might not be too bad.

[Caspian]

Why would you not be able to broadcast one tablet to multiple machines? My daughter uses a smaller Wacom tablet for her artwork I suppose I could try and set that up. It is USB though and I run different OSes so might be problematic. I had an old tablet many years ago that was serial. That would have been easy to broadcast to multiple machines.


Edit:
Just went to look at the Cintiq. not a straight tablet, pretty cool looking, let me look at it more and see what i come up with.

[triCalcifer]

i own a Cintiq 12wx and a Intuos3 A4wide
there is a couple of issues about this.

first of playing WoW with a cintiq is not desireable
at first it seems very cool, but you fast run into problems.
for example, when using it for mouse-look, its fucks up.
its 1:1 positioning system, makes it impossible to steer camera around.
second its very stressfull on your arms to work on a cintiq if your
arms dont rest on the table, this would happen when working with 5
cintiqs. third, you loose your focus from other screens when working
on one. with a mouse you can lean back and and have a glimpse look
on all screens, and switching focus doesnt mean you have to move
anything but your head a little bit, if at all.
To succesfully use cintiqs, would mean to have all screens very close
for easy interaction, which i think would stress the eyes very much.

however using a Wii-Remote is fun.... dont know why i brought it up.
alterative interaction i guess.

ill just advice you here, cintiqs, are stressfull for anything but drawing/working directly focused on the one screen.
extra monitors as in my case are for easy interaction with anything BUT drawing/working.
and definatly not fun for WoW, tried it, couldnt do it for more than like 30mins switching
back to mouse when i needed to look around.

IF should you nevertheless decide to buy x5 Cintiq21UX i would GLADLY
like to take them off your back, when you realize how much it doesnt work.

Calcifer

Edit: to answer you actual questions:
it functions just like a second monitor(reg. monitor) however underneath the coated screen
lies a tablet(much like tablet PC´s) which is mapped 1:1 to the screen on-top.

its super fast, just like a reg. mouse/monitor setup, same response time ect.
its just a touchscreen where only pen input works and not other material.
besides it has alot of uber functionality, 1024 pressure levels, tilt and rotation (input wise)
just to name a few.

really designed for painters and illustrators, not wow, sorry.

[triCalcifer]

realizing that most of the camera issues is on a regulair tablet (the intuos3)
i decided to give it try. will reply again later when i got some valuable feedback.

Calcifer

[Caspian]

Ok, after looking at it in detail some more they are very cool. I know my daughter would love one to work on. For WoW though, not so sure. They look like they are high resolution pen based touch screen monitors.

Having 5 of them to go to seems like it would be slow. Having to physically move your hand (really your whole arm and maybe torso with the size of them - and god does that sound lazy or what) seems really inefficient to me. A repetitive motion injury waiting to happen lol.

Using one as a single option on a single box software solution sounds more doable. I personally like to have my monitor about 18-24 inches away from my face. So I would have to reach up with to get to that or totally readjust my seating arrangement. Holding my arm up for hours on end during a session does not sound appealing either. Now I could go to a "table top" setup where I could put my arm on my desk and treat the thing like a piece of paper. That would be better but still wouldn't want to sit like that for long.

I saw an HP all-in-one PC at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago and thought it was kind of cool until I started messing with it and realized where my arm would be most of the time. I also have shoulder and elbow problems in my right arm (woohoo baseball) which would make something like that even worse for me specifically.

How would you plan on moving? I am right handed and would still use the mouse in my right hand and would also need to use the pen in my right hand. I guess I could train myself to use the pen in my left, I am not writing just poking so shouldn't be too hard.

Ergonomics aside, if you had one tablet, in a hardware setup, installed the drivers on all machines and calibrated the tablet on each. then only used the display on your "main" or KVM'd the 'V' to the tablet and then broadcast the USB data, which would be all tablet actions, pen and the buttons it has, that might work out OK as long as your WoW UI and camera was set up and stayed the same and the tablet didn't loose its calibration.

Xzin, what type of physical setup were you thinking of using?

[Bena]

yeah I'll second that using a tablet is gonna kill your wrists. I
have the wacom 12x9 not the cintiq, I've tried playing games with it
but very quickly your arm/hand/wrist gets tired. The cintiqs are
great for 2d drawing and I know some people do 3d stuff with them but
for games they're not really ideal imho.

[Frosty]

but it sounds sort of painful to play a game with a pen.

Ever heard of a Nintendo DS?

Yes, and I'm also familiar with the palm pilot... but they don't require the same range of motion to use/play.
Using a pen to play a game would be like writing a long essay..your hand will start to cramp up after a while.

But if it works for who ever wants to try it, more power. It's just not for me.

[Fizzler]

I actually tried to use my Wacom tablet for this purpose. It was just the WACOM 3 and not the display version but I found it interesting to tap target mobs I only messed around with it for about 30 minutes but found myself dragging the pen too much. I know one person who does play with a tablet and loves it but he also plays FPS with a trackball *shudder* :)

[RobinGBrown]

At $1-2K a pop you'd be better of going for actual touchscreens - I develop for POS (point of sales) and using a touchscreen is one of the most intuitive interfaces you can get, not to mention F A S T!

The real limitation is that most modern touchscreens are fairly small at 14-17" and 1024/1280 resolution and usually come built in to a crappy POS PC.

But having 3-5 touchscreens in front of you would allow you to use both hands simultaneously and with some practice you'd be able to do multiboxing stuff that would be stunningly difficult to do with just macros and a mouse/keyboard.