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- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.533
-
-
- Pit Fighter ----- ----- -- 42
- Power Golf 12/25 06/15 20 19
- Psychosis 12/25 06/15 -- 27
- R-Type 12/25 06/15 30 29
- RBI 3 ----- ----- -- 42
- Raiden 20/38 22/39 60 49
- Rift War Saga ----- ----- -- 47
- Shape Shifter ----- ----- -- 44
- Sherlock Holmes 20/38 24/45 50 47
- SideArms 08/20 05/11 -- ??
- Silent Debuggers 15/30 24/42 40 36
- Sinistron 12/25 05/12 20 ??
- Sonic Spike 12/25 11/19 20 ??
- Space Harrier 12/25 10/19 20 19
- Splash Lake ----- ----- 50 --
- Splatterhouse 12/25 12/25 -- 36
- Super Star Soldier 12/25 06/15 -- 29
- Super Volleyball 12/25 24/42 -- 19
- TV Sports Baseball 20/38 ----- -- 43
- TV Sports Basketball 15/30 15/30 50 43
- TV Sports Football 15/30 06/12 50 43
- TV Sports Hockey 20/38 22/39 OOS 43
- Takin it to the Hoop 08/20 07/14 30 27
- Talespin 20/38 24/42 40 36
- Tiger Road 12/25 17/29 30 27
- Timeball 12/25 12/20 -- 40
- Tricky Kick 12/25 07/14 -- ??
- Turrican 15/30 ----- 20 39
- Valis 2 12/25 13/26 -- 29
- Valis 3 20/38 ----- 55 48
- Veigue's Tactical Gladiator 12/25 16/27 -- 27
- Victory Run 06/15 03/10 20 19
- Vigilante 06/15 03/10 OOS 19
- World Class Baseball 08/20 03/08 20 19
- World Court Tennis 08/20 06/14 20 19
- Yo Bro 20/38 17/34 40 ??
- Ys 3 20/38 27/46 50 48
- Ys Book 1 & 2 12/25 18/35 -- 36
-
-
- Sources:
-
- BRE
- 352 W. Bedford Ave., Suite 104
- Fresno, CA 93711
- (209) 432-2684
-
- Game Dude
- PO Box 8325
- Van Nuys, CA 91409
- (818) 764-2442
- [Accept Major Credit Cards]
-
- Chips & Bits
- PO Box 234
- Rochester, VT 05767
- (802) 767-3033
- (802) 767-3382 - Fax
- (Available in the GEnie online-mall.)
-
-
- <>
- Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu sci.med:51878 sci.med.occupational:175 news.answers:4666
- Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!xn.ll.mit.edu!ames!agate!zonker.cs.berkeley.edu!dwallach
- From: Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>
- Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.med.occupational,news.answers
- Subject: FAQ: Typing Injuries (1/3): General Info [monthly posting]
- Supersedes: <typing-injury-faq/general_721370199@cs.berkeley.edu>
- Followup-To: sci.med.occupational
- Date: 16 Dec 1992 17:45:53 GMT
- Organization: University of California, Berkeley
- Lines: 359
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Expires: 24 Jan 1993 17:45:51 GMT
- Message-ID: <typing-injury-faq/general_724527951@cs.berkeley.edu>
- Reply-To: Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: zonker.cs.berkeley.edu
- Summary: information about where to get more information
- Originator: dwallach@zonker.cs.berkeley.edu
-
- Archive-name: typing-injury-faq/general
- Version: $Revision: 4.17 $ $Date: 1992/12/16 17:36:20 $
-
- The Typing Injury FAQ -- sources of information for people with typing
- injuries, repetitive stress injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.
-
- Copyright 1992 By Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>
-
- The opinions in here are my own, unless otherwise mentioned, and do not
- represent the opinions of any organization or vendor. I'm not a medical
- doctor, so my advice should be taken with many grains of salt.
-
- Changes since previously distributed versions are marked with change ||
- bars to the right of the text, as is this paragraph. ||
-
- [Current distribution: sci.med, news.answers, and e-mail to
- c+health@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu and
- sorehand@vm.ucsf.edu]
-
- Table of Contents:
- ==1== Mailing lists, newsgroups, etc.
- ==2== The soda.berkeley.edu archive
- ==3== General info on injuries
- ==4== Typing posture, ergonomics, prevention, treatment
- ==5== Requests for more info
- ==6== References
-
- ==1== Mailing lists, newsgroups, etc.
-
- USENET News:
- -----------
- comp.human-factors occasionally has discussion about alternative input devices.
- comp.risks has an occasional posting relevant to injuries via computers.
- sci.med and misc.handicap also tend to have relevant traffic.
-
- There's a Brand New newsgroup, sci.med.occupational, chartered specifically
- to discuss these things. This would be the recommended place to post.
-
- Mailing lists:
- -------------
- The RSI Network: Available both on paper and via e-mail, this publication
- covers issues relevant to those with repetitive stress injuries. For
- a sample issue and subscription information, send a stamped, self-
- addressed business envelope to Caroline Rose, 970 Paradise Way, Palo
- Alto CA 94306.
-
- E-mail to <crose@applelink.apple.com>
-
- $2 donation, requested.
-
- All RSI Network newsletters are available via anonymous ftp from ||
- soda.berkeley.edu (see below for details). ||
-
- c+health and sorehand are both IBM Listserv things. For those familiar
- with Listserv, here's the quick info:
-
- c+health -- subscribe to listserv@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu
- post to c+health@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu
-
- sorehand -- subscribe to listserv@vm.ucsf.edu
- post to sorehand@vm.ucsf.edu
-
- Quick tutorial on subscribing to a Listserv:
- % mail listserv@vm.ucsf.edu
- Subject: Total Listserv Mania!
-
- SUBSCRIBE SOREHAND J. Random Hacker
- INFO ?
- .
- That's all there is to it. You'll get bunches of mail back from the Listserv,
- including a list of other possible commands you can mail. Cool, huh? What'll
- those BITNET people think of, next?
-
- ==2== The soda.berkeley.edu archive
-
- I've started an archive site for info related to typing injuries. Just
- anonymous ftp to soda.berkeley.edu:pub/typing-injury. (128.32.149.19)
- Currently, you'll find:
-
- Informative files:
-
- typing-injury-faq/
- general -- information about typing injuries
- keyboards -- products to replace your keyboard
- software -- software to watch your keyboard usage
-
- keyboard-commentary -- my personal opinions on the keyboard replacements
- carpal.info -- info on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- carpal.surgery -- JAMA article on CTS surgery
- carpal.tidbits -- TidBITS article on CTS
- tendonitis.info -- info on Tendonitis
- datahand.review -- detailed review of the DataHand
- datahand.review2 -- follow-up to above
- datahand.desc -- description of the DataHand's appearance
- rsi.biblio -- bibliography of RSI-related publications
-
- rsi-network/* -- archive of the RSI Network newsletter
-
- comfort-* -- marketing info on the Comfort Keyboard ||
- maltron-* -- marketing info on various Maltron products ||
-
- Programs:
- hsh.shar -- a program for one-handed usage of normal keyboards
- typewatch.shar -- tells you when to take a break
- xdvorak.c -- turns your QWERTY keyboard into Dvorak
- xidle.shar -- keeps track of how long you've been typing
- rest-reminder.shar -- yet another idle watcher
- kt14.tar.Z -- generates fake X keyboard events from the ||
- serial port -- use a PC keyboard on anything! ||
-
- Pictures (in the gifs subdirectory):
- howtosit.gif -- picture of good sitting posture
- accukey1.gif -- fuzzy picture
- accukey2.gif -- fuzzy picture with somebody using it
- bat.gif -- the InfoGrip Bat
- comfort.gif -- the Health Care Comfort Keyboard
- datahand1.gif -- fuzzy picture
- datahand2.gif -- key layout schematic
- datahand3.gif -- a much better picture of the datahand
- kinesis.gif -- the Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard
- maltron[1-4].gif -- several pictures of Maltron products
- mikey1.gif -- the MIKey
- mikey2.gif -- Schematic Picture of the MIKey
- twiddler1.gif -- "front" view
- twiddler2.gif -- "side" view
- wave.gif -- the Iocomm `Wave' keyboard
-
- Note: Many of the actual files are compressed (have a .Z ending).
- If you can't uncompress a file locally, soda will do it for you.
- Just ask for the file, without the .Z extension.
-
- If you're unable to ftp to soda, send me e-mail and we'll see what we
- can arrange.
-
- ==3== General info on injuries
-
- First, and foremost of importance: if you experience pain at all, then
- you absolutely need to go see a doctor. As soon as you possibly can. The
- difference of a day or two can mean the difference between a short recovery
- and a long, drawn-out ordeal. GO SEE A DOCTOR. Now, your garden-variety
- doctor may not necessarily be familiar with this sort of injury. Generally,
- any hospital with an occupational therapy clinic will offer specialists in
- these kinds of problems. DON'T WAIT, THOUGH. GO SEE A DOCTOR.
-
- The remainder of this information is paraphrased, without permission, from
- a wonderful report by New Zealand's Department of Labour (Occupational
- Safety and Health Service): "Occupational Overuse Syndrome. Treatment and
- Rehabilitation: A Practitioner's Guide".
-
- First, a glossary (or, fancy names for how you shouldn't have your hands):
- (note: you're likely to hear these terms from doctors and keyboard vendors :)
-
- RSI: Repetitive Strain Injury - a general term for many kinds of injuries
- OOS: Occupational Overuse Syndrome -- synonym for RSI
- CTD: Cumulative Trauma Disorder -- another synonym for RSI
- WRULD: Work-Related Upper Limb Disorders -- yet another synonym for RSI
- CTS: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (see below)
- Hyperextension: Marked bending at a joint.
- Pronation: Turning the palm down.
- Wrist extension: Bending the wrist up.
- Supination: Turning the palm up.
- Wrist flexion: Bending the wrist down.
- Pinch grip: The grip used for a pencil.
- Ulnar deviation: Bending the wrist towards the little finger.
- Power grip: The grip used for a hammer.
- Radial Deviation: Bending the wrist toward the thumb.
- Abduction: Moving away from the body.
- Overspanning: Opening the fingers out wide.
-
- Now then, problems come in two main types: Local conditions and diffuse
- conditions. Local problems are what you'd expect: specific muscles,
- tendons, tendon sheaths, nerves, etc. being inflamed or otherwise hurt.
- Diffuse conditions, often mistaken for local problems, can involve muscle
- discomfort, pain, burning and/or tingling; with identifiable areas of
- tenderness in muscles, although they're not necessarily "the problem."
-
- --- Why does Occupational Overuse Syndrome occur? Here's the theory.
-
- Normally, your muscles and tendons get blood through capillaries which
- pass among the muscle fibers. When you tense a muscle, you restrict
- the blood flow. By the time you're exerting 50% of your full power,
- you're completely restricting your blood flow.
-
- Without fresh blood, your muscles use stored energy until they run out,
- then they switch to anaerobic (without oxygen) metabolism, which generates
- nasty by-products like lactic acid, which cause pain.
-
- Once one muscle hurts, all its neighbors tense up, perhaps to relieve the
- load. This makes sense for your normal sort of injury, but it only makes
- things worse with repetitive motion. More tension means less blood flow,
- and the cycle continues.
-
- Another by-product of the lack of blood flow is tingling and numbness from
- your nerves. They need blood too.
-
- Anyway, when you're typing too much, you're never really giving a change
- for the blood to get back where it belongs, because your muscles never
- relax enough to let the blood through. Stress, poor posture, and poor
- ergonomics, only make things worse.
-
- --- Specific injuries you may have heard of:
-
- (note: most injuries come in two flavors: acute and chronic. Acute
- injuries are severely painful and noticable. Chronic conditions have
- less pronounced symptoms but are every bit as real.)
-
- Tenosynovitis -- an inflamation of the tendon sheath. Chronic tenosynovitis
- occurs when the repetitive activity is mild or intermittent: not enough to
- cause acute inflamation, but enough to exceed the tendon sheath's ability
- to lubricate the tendon. As a result, the tendon sheath thickens, gets
- inflamed, and you've got your problem.
-
- Tendonitis -- an inflammation of a tendon. Repeated tensing of a tendon
- can cause inflamation. Eventually, the fibers of the tendon start separating,
- and can even break, leaving behind debris which induces more friction, more
- swelling, and more pain. "Sub-acute" tendonitis is more common, which entails
- a dull ache over the wrist and forearm, some tenderness, and it gets worse
- with repetitive activity.
-
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome -- the nerves that run through your wrist into your
- fingers get trapped by the inflamed muscles around them. Symptoms include
- feeling "pins and needles", tingling, numbness, and even loss of sensation.
- CTS is often confused for a diffuse condition.
-
- Adverse Mechanical Tension -- also known as 'neural tension', this is where
- the nerves running down to your arm have become contracted and possibly
- compressed as a result of muscle spasms in the shoulders and elsewhere.
- AMT can often misdiagnosed as or associated with one of the other OOS
- disorders. It is largely reversible and can be treated with physiotherapy
- (brachial plexus stretches and trigger point therapy).
-
- Others: for just about every part of your body, there's a fancy name for
- a way to injure it. By now, you should be getting an idea of how OOS
- conditions occur and why. Just be careful: many inexperienced doctors
- misdiagnose problems as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, when in reality, you
- may have a completely different problem. Always get a second opinion
- before somebody does something drastic to you (like surgery).
-
- ==4== Typing posture, ergonomics, prevention, treatment
-
- The most important element of both prevention and recovery is to reduce
- tension in the muscles and tendons. This requires learning how to relax.
- If you're under a load of stress, this is doubly important. Tune out
- the world and breath deep and regular. Relaxing should become a guiding
- principle in your work: every three minutes take a three second break.
- EVERY THREE MINUTES, TAKE A THREE SECOND BREAK. Really, do it every
- three minutes. It's also helpful to work in comfortable surroundings,
- calm down, and relax.
-
- If you can't sleep, you really need to focus on this. Rest, sleep, and
- relaxation are really a big deal.
-
- There are all kinds of other treatments, of course. Drugs can reduce
- inflamation and pain. Custom-molded splints can forcefully prevent bad
- posture. Surgery can fix some problems. Exercise can help strengthen
- your muscles. Regular stretching can help prevent injury. Good posture
- and a good ergonomic workspace promote reduced tension. Ice or hot-cold
- contrast baths also reduce swelling. Only your doctor can say what's best
- for you.
-
- --- Posture -- here are some basic guidelines. [I so liked the way this was
- written in the New Zealand book that I'm lifting it almost verbatim from
- Appendix 10. -- dwallach]
-
- . Let your shoulders relax.
- . Let your elbows swing free.
- . Keep your wrists straight.
- . Pull your chin in to look down - don't flop your head forward.
- . Keep the hollow in the base of your spine.
- . Try leaning back in the chair.
- . Don't slouch or slump forward.
- . Alter your posture from time to time.
- . Every 20 minutes, get up and bend your spine backward.
-
- Set the seat height, first. Your feet should be flat on the floor. There
- should be no undue pressure on the underside of your thighs near the knees,
- and your thighs should not slope too much.
-
- Now, draw yourself up to your desk and see that its height is comfortable
- to work at. If you are short, this may be impossible. The beest remedy
- is to raise the seat height and prevent your legs from dangling by using a
- footrest.
-
- Now, adjust the backrest height so that your buttocks fit into the space
- between the backrest and the seat pan. The backrest should support you in
- the hollow of your back, so adjust its tilt to give firm support in this
- area.
-
- If you operate a keyboard, you will be able to spend more time leaning
- back, so experiment with a chair with a taller backrest, if available.
-
- [Now, I diverge a little from the text]
-
- A good chair makes a big difference. If you don't like your chair, go
- find a better one. You really want adjustments for height, back angle,
- back height, and maybe even seat tilt. Most arm rests seem to get in
- the way, although some more expensive chairs have height adjustable arm
- rests which you can also rotate out of the way. You should find a good
- store and play with all these chairs -- pick one that's right for you.
- In the San Francisco Bay Area, I highly recommend "Just Chairs." The
- name says it all.
-
- --- Keyboard drawers, wrist pads, and keyboard replacements:
-
- There is a fair amount of controvery on how to get this right. For some
- people, wrist pads seem to work wonders. However, with good posture, you
- shouldn't be resting your wrists on anything -- you would prefer your
- keyboard to be "right there". If you drop your arms at your side and then
- lift your hands up at the elbow, you want your keyboard under your hands
- when your elbows are at about 90 degrees. Of course, you want to avoid
- pronation, wrist extension, and ulnar deviation at all costs. Wrist pads
- may or may not help at this. You should get somebody else to come and
- look at how you work: how you sit, how you type, and how you relax. It's
- often easier for somebody else to notice your hunched shoulders or
- deviated hands.
-
- Some argue that the normal, flat keyboard is antiquated and poorly
- designed. A number of replacements are available, on the market, today.
- Check out the accompanying typing-injury-faq/keyboards for much detail.
-
- ==5== Requests for more info
-
- Clearly, the above information is incomplete. The typing-injury archive
- is incomplete. There's always more information out there. If you'd like
- to submit something, please send me mail, and I'll gladly throw it in.
-
- If you'd like to maintain a list of products or vendors, that would be
- wonderful! I'd love somebody to make a list of chair/desk vendors. I'd
- love somebody to make a list of doctors. I'd love somebody to edit the
- above sections, looking for places where I've obviously goofed.
-
- ==6== References
-
- I completely rewrote the information section here, using a wonderful
- guide produced in New Zealand by their Occupational Safety & Health
- Service, a service of their Department of Labour. Special thanks
- to the authors: Wigley, Turner, Blake, Darby, McInnes, and Harding.
-
- Semi-bibliographic reference:
- . Occupational Overuse Syndrome
- . Treatment and Rehabilitation:
- A Practitioner's Guide
-
- Published by the Occupational Safety and Health Service
- Department of Labour
- Wellington,
- New Zealand.
-
- First Edition: June 1992
- ISBM 0-477-3499-3
-
- Price: $9.95 (New Zealand $'s, of course)
-
- Thanks to Richard Donkin <richardd@hoskyns.co.uk> for reviewing this posting.
-
- --
- Dan Wallach "One of the most attractive features of a Connection
- dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu Machine is the array of blinking lights on the faces
- Office#: 510-642-9585 of its cabinet." -- CM Paris Ref. Manual, v6.0, p48.
- Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu sci.med:51879 sci.med.occupational:176 news.answers:4667
- Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!xn.ll.mit.edu!ames!agate!zonker.cs.berkeley.edu!dwallach
- From: Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>
- Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.med.occupational,news.answers
- Subject: FAQ: Typing Injuries (2/3): Keyboard Alternatives [monthly posting]
- Supersedes: <typing-injury-faq/keyboards_721370199@cs.berkeley.edu>
- Followup-To: sci.med.occupational
- Date: 16 Dec 1992 17:45:56 GMT
- Organization: University of California, Berkeley
- Lines: 515
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Expires: 24 Jan 1993 17:45:51 GMT
- Message-ID: <typing-injury-faq/keyboards_724527951@cs.berkeley.edu>
- Reply-To: Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: zonker.cs.berkeley.edu
- Summary: everything you ever wanted to know about replacing your keyboard
- Originator: dwallach@zonker.cs.berkeley.edu
-
- Archive-name: typing-injury-faq/keyboards
- Version: $Revision: 4.10 $ $Date: 1992/12/16 17:36:37 $
-
- Special Note: Next month, I'll be going to a conference where a number ||
- of these manufacturers will be represented. You can expect a number of ||
- hopefully interesting information, then... ||
-
- The Alternative Keyboard FAQ
- Copyright 1992 By Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.berkeley.edu>
-
- The opinions in here are my own, unless otherwise mentioned, and do not
- represent the opinions of any organization or vendor.
-
- [Current distribution: sci.med, news.answers, and e-mail to
- c+health@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu and
- sorehand@vm.ucsf.edu]
-
- Changes since previously distributed versions are marked with change ||
- bars to the right of the text, as is this paragraph. ||
-
- In this issue, I went over things, fleshing out some of the entries ||
- I felt were a little lacking. Otherwise, nothing much new, here. ||
-
- Information in this FAQ has been pieced together from phone conversations,
- e-mail, and product literature. While I hope it's useful, the information
- in here is neither comprehensive nor error free. If you find something
- wrong or missing, please mail me, and I'll update my list. Thanks.
-
- All phone numbers, unless otherwise mentioned, are U.S.A. phone numbers.
- All monetary figures, unless otherwise mentioned, are U.S.A. dollars.
-
- Products covered in this FAQ:
- Apple Computer, Inc -- rumors of a new keyboard!
- Dragon Systems
- The Bat
- DataHand
- Comfort Keyboard System
- Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard
- Maltron
- The Tony! Ergonomic KeySystem
- The MIKey
- The Wave
- The Minimal Motion Computer Access System
- Twiddler
- Half-QWERTY
- Microwriter
- Braille 'n Speak
- Octima
- AccuKey
-
- GIF pictures of many of these products are available via anonymous ftp
- from soda.berkeley.edu:pub/typing-injury. (128.32.149.19) I highly ||
- recommend getting the pictures. They tell much more than I can fit ||
- into this file. ||
-
- If you can't ftp, send me mail, and I'll uuencode and mail them to you
- (they're pretty big...)
-
- ==============
-
- Apple Computer, Inc.
- Sales offices all over the place.
-
- The following rumor appeared in TidBITS#149/26-Oct-92:
-
- I've heard that Apple is working on a new mouse with more rounded
- curves that users might find more comfortable than the current
- mouse. That's not terribly exciting, but what is exciting is the
- new keyboard Apple also has in the works, reportedly slated for a
- January release. The keyboard should list for about $250, which
- compares relatively well with the $185 Extended Keyboard II,
- considering the extra hardware that goes into the ergonomics.
-
- Like some of the more esoteric keyboards from small companies,
- Apple's new keyboard "breaks" in the center, so that the left and
- right halves rotate around pivot points. You can also angle the
- sides when it is broken for maximum comfort, and the keyboard even
- comes with palm rests. Although this is terribly hard to
- visualize, and I don't have a QuickTime movie for you, I've heard
- that the design makes typing extremely comfortable.
-
-
- DragonDictate-30K (and numerous other Dragon products)
- Dragon Systems, Inc.
- 320 Nevada Street
- Newton, MA 02160
-
- Phone: 800-TALK-TYP or 617-965-5200
- Fax: 617-527-0372
-
- Shipping: Now.
-
- Price: DragonDictate-30K -- $4995 (end user system)
- DragonWriter 1000 -- $1595 / $2495 (end user/developer system)
- various other prices for service contracts, site licenses, etc.
-
- Compatibility: 386 (or higher) PC only (3rd party support for Mac)
-
- Dragon Systems sells a number of voice recognition products.
- Most (if not all) of them seem to run on PC's and compatibles
- (including PS/2's and other MicroChannel boxes). They sell you
- a hardware board and software which sits in front of a number
- of popular word processors and spreadsheets.
-
- Each user `trains' the system to their voice, and there are provisions
- to correct the system when it makes mistakes, on the fly. Multiple
- people can use it, but you have to load a different personality file
- for each person. You still get the use of your normal keyboard, too.
- On the Dragon- Dictate-30K you need to pause 1/10th sec between
- words. Dragon claims typical input speeds of 30-40 words per minute.
- I don't have specs on the DragonWriter 1000.
-
- The DragonDictate-30K can recognize 30,000 words at a time.
- The DragonWriter 1000 can recognize (you guessed it) 1000 words at a time.
-
- Dragon's technology is also part of the following products
- (about which I have no other info):
-
- Microsoft Windows Sound System (Voice Pilot)
- IBM VoiceType
- Voice Navigator II (by Articulate Systems -- for Macintosh)
- EMStation (by Lanier Voice Products -- "emergency medical workstation")
-
-
- The Bat
- old phone number: 504-336-0033
- current phone number: 504-766-8082
-
- Infogrip, Inc.
- 812 North Blvd.
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802, U.S.A.
-
- Ward Bond (main contact)
- David Vicknair (did the Unix software) 504-766-1029
-
- Shipping: Now.
-
- Supports: Mac, IBM PC (serial port -- native keyboard port version
- coming very soon...). No other workstations supported, but serial
- support for Unix with X Windows has been written. PC and Mac are
- getting all the real attention from the company.
-
- A chording system. One hand is sufficient to type everything.
- The second hand is for redundancy and increased speed.
-
- Price:
- $495 (dual set -- each one is a complete keyboard by itself)
- $295 (single)
-
- (cheaper prices were seen at MacWorld Expo as a show-special.)
-
-
- DataHand 602-860-8584
- Industrial Innovations, Inc.
- 10789 North 90th Street
- Scottsdale, Arizona 85260-6727, U.S.A.
-
- Mark Roggenbuck (contact)
-
- Supports: IBM PC and Macintosh.
-
- Shipping: In beta. "Big backlog" -- could take 3 months
- to get one. Making them "as-needed." Made by hand.
-
- Price: $1200/unit for the pair. Minimum order: 2.
-
- Each of the four main fingers has five switches each: forward,
- back, left, right, and down. The thumbs have a number of switches.
- The idea is that your hands never have to move to use the keyboard.
- The whole unit tilts in its base, as a mouse.
-
- (see also: the detailed review, written by Cliff Lasser <cal@THINK.COM>
- available via anonymous ftp from soda.berkeley.edu)
-
-
- Comfort Keyboard System 414-253-4131
- FAX: 414-253-4177
-
- Health Care Keyboard Company
- N61 W15150 Wigwam Drive
- Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051 U.S.A.
-
- Theoretical New Address: N82 W15340 Appleton Ave
-
- Jeffrey Szmanda (Vice President -- contact)
-
- Shipping: Now. 30 day wait. Should be FCC approved by the time you
- read this.
-
- Supports:
- PC
- Mac
-
- Planned future support:
- IBM 122-key layout (3270-style, I believe) -- sometime in December
- Sun Sparc -- possibly by the end of the year or January '93
- Decision Data
- Unisys UTS-40
- Silicon Graphics
-
- Others to be supported later. The hardware design is relatively
- easy for the company to re-configure.
-
- Price: starts at $590.
-
- The idea is that one keyboard works with everything. You purchase
- "compatibility modules", a new cord, and possibly new keycaps, and
- then you can move your one keyboard around among different machines.
-
- It's a three-piece folding keyboard. The layout resembles the
- standard 101-key keyboard, except sliced into three sections. Each
- section is on a "custom telescoping universal mount." Each section
- independently adjusts to an infinite number of positions allowing each
- individual to type in a natural posture. You can rearrange the three
- sections, too (have the keypad in the middle if you want). Each
- section is otherwise normal-shaped (i.e.: you put all three sections
- flat, and you have what looks like a normal 101-key keyboard).
-
-
- Kinesis Ergonomic Keyboard 206-455-9220
- 206-455-9233 (fax)
-
- Kinesis Corporation
- 15245 Pacific Highway South,
- Seattle, Washington 98188, U.S.A.
-
- Shirley Lunde (VP Marketing -- contact)
-
- Shipping: currently catching up with backlogged orders. By the time
- you read this, they should be FCC-approved. Still, expect a
- 30-60 day backlog for your order.
-
- Supports: PC. Mac and Sun Sparc in the works.
-