The 3D mouse solved a real problem. A regular mouse moves across a flat surface. But 3D work needs more than left, right, up, and down. It needs movement through space: push, pull, twist, tilt, rotate, and turn. That is what the 3D mouse was built for. It went to space. 🛰️ It helped control a robot in orbit. 🤖 It helped drive a rover across Mars. 🪐 And yet, it never became the mouse on everyone’s desk. Why? Because most people do not navigate 3D space every day. For CAD de

AWE Expo Day 2 is about to begin! We’re constantly exploring new interaction methods to make control more natural, seamless, and intuitive. Our testing continues to show that different devices, applications, and user experiences often benefit from different gesture schemes. In this example, Thumb Micro-Gestures are used to control the classic game Snake. 🕺 Visit us at AWE 2026 📍 Booth #648 🧠 Room 201A (2nd Floor) to explore Mudra Studio, Mudra Pro, and more.

Here’s a look at one of the concepts we’re exploring: combining EMG-based neural input from two Mudra Link bands with open-source computer vision hand tracking. By synchronizing real-time pressure levels and multi-hand interactions, we’re exploring how neural input and computer vision can help teach machines not only what humans do, but how they do it. As Physical AI advances, understanding human tasks requires more than observing motion alone. Intent, force, timing, coordina

The light pen arrived before the world was ready for it. The core technology already existed in the 1950s: direct pointing, screen interaction, instant visual feedback. For the first time, users could point at something on a screen and have a computer respond immediately. But the hardware couldn't keep up. The light pen gave us the graphical interface. The mouse made it practical. Welcome back to Input Origins, our monthly look at how humans control technology. This time: The

The trackpad arrived before the world was ready for it. The core technology already existed in the 1980s: capacitive sensing, finger navigation, gesture-based control. But the ecosystem wasn’t there yet. Then laptops, GUIs, and portable computing reached critical mass—and within a few years, the trackpad replaced mechanical pointing devices across the industry. Over time, the input surface kept disappearing: from the desk, to the laptop, to the glass of the smartphone. Welcom

Great interfaces rarely arrive as a single breakthrough. They tend to appear more than once. Two inventors filing the same patent on the same day. Engineers in different labs solving the same control problem, without ever speaking. Entire teams, continents apart, arriving at the same idea at the same time. At first, it feels like coincidence. But it isn’t. When a problem becomes clear enough, the solution starts showing up everywhere. Welcome back to Input Origins, our monthl

Great interfaces rarely begin as inventions. They usually begin with someone noticing something small. A product manager watching Excel users struggle to move through large spreadsheets. A Nintendo engineer noticing someone absent-mindedly pressing calculator buttons on a train. Moments like these don’t look like inventions at first. They just look like curiosity. Welcome back to Input Origins, our monthly look at how humans control technology. This time: The Spark – Mater Ar

Your eyes were never meant to be buttons. Gaze tracking seems natural, which is why it’s now everywhere — from AR/VR headsets and smart glasses to assistive systems that let ALS patients communicate using only their eyes. But looking isn’t the same as intending. That gap has shaped over a century of research, from early psychology labs to modern XR platforms, forcing designers to add dwell-time, confirmations, and secondary inputs just to make gaze usable. Welcome back to - I

How helping a nervous student on his first day at work spiked the signal that formed the team behind the world’s first neural wristband. The discussion explores how raw wrist signals were gradually transformed into structured data, algorithms, and machine-learning models capable of recognizing intent before movement. 🧠 Early Exposure to BCI Concepts Early encounters with brain–computer interfaces revealed a simple truth: breakthrough technology often begins in imperfect form

Before words, there were gestures. Now technology is learning their meaning. Hand gestures are our oldest interface - instinctive, not learned. We never shaped them for machines; they evolved for human communication and interaction. Today, gestures are becoming the language through which we communicate with machines. What's in a Name? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Everybody is trying to name and claim dominance in the post-iPhone era - f

Neural control delivers what every interface demands: reliability at scale, and this conversation explores how it’s done at the product level. Smart glasses are evolving fast, but input design still lags behind. Legacy interfaces don’t fit face-worn devices. Solving the interaction challenge unlocks the next wave of adoption. The Paradox of Innovation: Familiar Enough to Use, New Enough to Matter True innovation walks a fine line. It must feel familiar enough to trust, yet ne

Before keyboards became the main way people interacted with computers, the QWERTY layout began as a solution to a mechanical problem. Early typewriters could jam when nearby letter bars were pressed too quickly, so Christopher Latham Sholes separated commonly paired letters. Remington, better known for manufacturing firearms and sewing machines, mass-produced the design and helped turn QWERTY into the standard. The same layout later moved from typewriters to teleprinters, com

The pace of technological advancement has always been dictated by user interfaces. Buttons felt safe. The mouse brought computers to the masses. Touchscreens put technology in every palm. A new standard is forming, and the leaders are already moving. Neural gestures are inevitable — rich in expression, intuitive in feel, natural to use. Neural Wristband. Control at the Speed of Intention For AR glasses to work seamlessly in everyday life, interaction must be effortless, touch

Before touchscreens became the most widely used input method, controlling a computer required a separate device such as a keyboard, mouse, or joystick. The touchscreen changed that by combining the display and the controls into one surface. The first finger-driven capacitive touchscreen was developed by E.A. Johnson in 1965 for air traffic control. Early consumer attempts struggled, but the iPhone’s multi-touch interface showed that tapping, swiping, and pinching could replac

Before keyboards, mice, touchscreens, and game controllers, humans already had a remarkably capable interface: your hand. Millions of years of evolution shaped the hand for gripping, feeling, moving, gesturing, and creating. Its combination of muscles, bones, nerves, and fine motor control made it the natural foundation for nearly every tool and input device that followed. Over time, interfaces were designed around the hand. Keyboards matched our fingers, mice fit beneath the

What's in a Name? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” AR, XR, MR, or Spatial - the labels may shift, but the essence remains. At their core, all face-worn devices serve two functions: they display digital content and enable the user to interact. Their ability to perform these tasks ultimately determines their value. While the category name may change, what truly matters are two key dimensions: display immersion and input functionality. The G

Before touchscreens, gestures, and wearable input, most digital control followed two basic ideas: point directly at something, or move through a fixed set of options. The mouse established the pointing paradigm, where continuous movement controls a cursor across a screen. The D-pad introduced a different approach, using discrete directions such as up, down, left, and right to navigate menus and make selections. For years, these two paradigms developed separately. The Nintendo

AR and AI glasses are coming! But, without a touchscreen in our hands, how will we interact with them? Tomorrow’s interface won’t live on a phone screen, rather it will overlay information and experiences seamlessly onto our world. Maps, messages, and apps will appear as part of what we see, creating a continuous experience, freeing us from constantly holding a phone, and showing exactly what we need, when we need it. Here are the four input methods vying for dominance.

Before game pads became the familiar controllers of consoles and virtual worlds, they began with a simple experiment: how could someone control an object moving across a screen? In 1958, Tennis for Two used two aluminum controllers, each with a knob and a button. Players turned the knob to aim and pressed the button to serve, creating one of the earliest examples of physical controls connected to a video game. Over time, game pads evolved from simple buttons and directional c

Before joysticks became familiar tools for gaming and simulation, they began with a practical aviation problem: could one control make an aircraft easier and more intuitive to steer? In 1908, aviator Louis Blériot introduced a pivoting stick that controlled pitch and roll through natural hand movement. It replaced a complicated collection of levers and pulleys with one direct connection between the pilot’s movement and the machine’s response. Over time, the joystick moved fro