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Face-Mounted Nose Stylus Created For Phones 208

Posted by samzenpus from the because-he-can dept.
Lanxon writes "Designer Dominic Wilcox has come up with a Pinocchio-style 'finger-nose stylus' that lets you use your phone hands free, reports Wired. He came up with the design after he found that he wanted to use his touchphone in the bath. A wet hand is not a good touchscreen navigation device, so he found himself using his nose to scroll, but found it hard to see precisely where his nose was touching the screen. The solution was to create a nose extension 'finger' that would allow for navigation while holding the phone firmly in his one dry hand."

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Face-Mounted Nose Stylus Created For Phones More

Face-Mounted Nose Stylus Created For Phones

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  • Addicted much? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ckthorp ( 1255134 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:01AM (#36025040)
    Could just not use the phone in the bath....
    • I know I really do not understand the need to be using your smart phone that much. I see people sitting in hot tubes at my gym using them, and it's like do you really need to be connected so much you can't be away from your phone for 30 min?

      How did these people function pre-smartphone?!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PIBM ( 588930 )

        Now he can be navigating his porn (HTTP based) as much as he wants...

      • How did these people function pre-smartphone?!

        Sadly....many of them likely were not coming to age in a non-smartphone world. If that's all they've known...etc.

        I admit, I like staying connected a LOT....but I do enjoy times when I don't wanna be contacted, nor do I want to contact anyone. A nice beach in the Caribbean or Key West maybe...no need for phones or computers, just some tunes....rum punch and girls in soon to be shed bikinis.

      • >>>How did these people function pre-smartphone?!

        Well as a wise woman once sung : "We're young and we're bored. Blow-o-o-o. o. o. o." - Ke-$-ha. Now they have phones so they don't have to be bored, even in the bath or hot tub.

      • They played fewer video games, and read fewer web pages. Why is it such a big deal to you that people like to do more than one thing at a time.

        Some people even listen to their mp3 players while on the exercise machines at that gym I bet. The even more extreme watch TV while on the treadmill!

        • Why is it such a big deal to you that people like to do more than one thing at a time.

          Not a big deal to me, but when someone is moved to invent a device that might as well have a blinking "Douchebag" sign attached to it, one does wonder if there are alternative ways to live ones life that does not require the wearing of a ridiculous elective prostheses.

      • Re:Addicted much? (Score:4, Funny)

        by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @12:51PM (#36026372)

        How did these people function pre-smartphone?!

        What makes you think that they're functioning now?

      • I know I really do not understand the need to be using your smart phone that much. I see people sitting in hot tubes at my gym using them, and it's like do you really need to be connected so much you can't be away from your phone for 30 min?

        Keep in mind that a smartphone isn't just a phone. They may very well not be "connected" at all, just doing something else. I sometimes play games or read a book on my phone while relaxing in the hot tub or steam room, and if I'm not doing that I almost always have my headphones on listening to music or an audio book.

        But I have a waterproof case for my phone (and waterproof headphones), so I don't need this nose stylus. I just use my wet finger.

      • It's not that I can't be away from my phone for 30 minutes, but rather that I can be less bored while I'm on the treadmill.

        Are people who listen to music on public transport addicted to music?

    • Re:Addicted much? (Score:5, Informative)

      by RDW ( 41497 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:32AM (#36025440)

      I suspect Dominic Wilcox's surreal brand of humour is going to be lost in this thread. Yes, he knows it's silly. Check out his other creations:

      http://variationsonnormal.com/ [variationsonnormal.com]

      "Cost saving 5 plank Fence - sensor detects position of person and moves fence accordingly...You might be asking 'why hasn't anyone thought of this before?' But the garden fence industry is very powerful and they kill any idea that would threaten their plank quantity sales."

      I vote for him as Jonathan Ive's successor.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Amouth ( 879122 )
        i've seen the screw coffin before - that to me is actually and awesome idea .. 
        • So as you walk around a Screw Coffin Graveyard, you will hear clinking as bones eventually start dropping to the bottom of the screw?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Amouth ( 879122 )
            my bet is that they would require them to pump them full of say a two part foam to keep the body from breaking down into the ground..  even now they require graves to have a concrete encasing so that the embalming fluids don't seep into the ground water.

      • Ok, that is cool. The whole site.
        I really like the blown up sock lamps.
        And the man's sence of humor makes the nose finger cool.
        thanks for the link.

      • Silly? The Que Shoulder Hook Table is pure genius!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Osgeld ( 1900440 )

        if you want to do something humorous it should not require reading someone's biography

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gknoy ( 899301 )

          Are you seriously telling me you looked at the picture (or the description) and didn't laugh? It's absurd, it's silly -- it's humor.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Osgeld ( 1900440 )

            no I honestly did not the first time I saw it yesterday, it IS absurd I will give you that

    • Could just not use the phone in the bath....

      http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2225 [smbc-comics.com]

    • Guess which adult item he stripped the silicon off of to "design" his strap on? I'll give you a hint, I already mentioned it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sconeu ( 64226 )

      [VOICE type="Prof. Farnsworth"]
      And that's what would have happened if I'd invented the nose-longer. A man can dream...
      [/VOICE]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dthief ( 1700318 )
      What about if your nose is wet......get a penile extension
    • I love it! ...but then, I've been married for over 3 decades, I've raised all the kids I intend to, and won't be looking for a date any time soon!

    • Could just not use the phone in the bath....

      Actually, it will also come in handy for various people with disabilities. One of our employees used to use a similar setup to use the touch-laptop attached to his motorized wheelchair. His phone was mounted to it too...

  • a fing-longer, he's created a nose-longer.

  • Maximum douche (Score:5, Insightful)

    by redemtionboy ( 890616 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:04AM (#36025070)

    I never thought there'd be a way to look like even more of a douche than the bluetooth headset, but behold, society proves me wrong once again. Where there is a will, there is always more douchiness.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • >>>society proves me wrong once again. Where there is a will, there is always more douchiness.

      Reminds me of a story I just read in Asimov's Science Fiction, about a future society that shrunk phones so small, they could be embedded inside index fingers and thumbs. The idea was extremely popular for a few years, until everyone noticed how dumb they look holding their hands to the face & talking. (Like little kids do.) The fad then died off.

    • Just wait until they invent a bluetooth nose stylus

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by clem ( 5683 )

      Skeksis and Gelfings friends!

    • Oh come on. It's not like he created something that *clicks the link* JEEESUS CHRIST!

    • I never thought there'd be a way to look like even more of a douche than the bluetooth headset, but behold, society proves me wrong once again. Where there is a will, there is always more douchiness.

      You do know that it is a joke, right?

  • without the use of four letter words. Lots of them.

    • without the use of four letter words. Lots of them.

      I'll take that for $200, Alex.

      "What (1) is the stupidest 'invention' you've heard of so far today on slashdot?"

      "Oozing so massive a quantity of stupidity the captions practically write themselves! Photoshop not required!"

      "Pinocchio!"

      "Got a kleenex?"

      See - only one 4-letter word.

  • Lawsuits Expected (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I hope he has put some money away for the eventual lawsuits claiming it made the user cross-eyed. Didn't he see the movie "The Jerk"?

  • Really Great Idea (Score:4, Funny)

    by Nailer235 ( 1822054 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:06AM (#36025100)
    Michael Bolton: "You think the pet rock was a really great idea?" Tom Smykowski: "Sure it was. The guy made a million dollars."

  • That's just... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    fucking retarded.

  • Reminds me of The Jerk (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The Opti-Grab device Steve Martin invented.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by wcrowe ( 94389 )

      Me too. The inventor will eventually be sued by thousands of cross-eyed consumers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tarlus ( 1000874 )

      That's funny, because it reminded me of that long nose that Steve Martin had in "Roxanne."

      • Made me think of a Vanuatu namba. [wikipedia.org] Those are held in place by a sharp stick, which involves a piercing. Ouch!

  • Simplifying his shower masturbation? Imagine the the horrible scene you couldn't un-see if you accidentally walked in on this "inventor" wearing this prosthetic nose and TCB (taking care of business)? the horror, the horror...
  • I can envision the amount of mental jackassery that could have resulted in someone actually making and promoting this...thing. What I don't get is why Slashdot thinks it's worthy of any mention, notice, republication, or even ridicule.

  • Finally! (Score:3)

    by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:18AM (#36025268)
    We can now have our iPhone in one hand, iPad in the other, and still use them both at the same time! We have now entered a new age of human productivity!

  • I know what we can do... (Score:3)

    by Torodung ( 31985 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:18AM (#36025270) Journal

    Hook that puppy up to the "french kiss" appliance and nose kiss your sweetie.

  • Serious real-world applications (Score:5, Insightful)

    by andyring ( 100627 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:18AM (#36025272) Homepage

    Granted, the whole concept of using an iPhone in the bath is silly, IMHO, I could see very legitimate real-world use for this in the disabled community.

    My wife is a nurse on the ventilator unit at a local rehab hospital, and she tells me often of the setups people have there to use a laptop computer with head-mounted stylus units and such that don't work very well for some patients. But I could see a solution like this working wonderfully for quadriplegic or otherwise disabled people to use an iPhone or more likely an iPad.

    • The teledildonic French kiss adapter, discussed yesterday, might be useful in addition. Do people with these disabilities have more precise control over their tongue or their heads? It's probably a matter of personal preference. There are also those who communicate by puffing into a device, either in morse or some other code.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nyder ( 754090 )

      Granted, the whole concept of using an iPhone in the bath is silly, IMHO, I could see very legitimate real-world use for this in the disabled community.

      My wife is a nurse on the ventilator unit at a local rehab hospital, and she tells me often of the setups people have there to use a laptop computer with head-mounted stylus units and such that don't work very well for some patients. But I could see a solution like this working wonderfully for quadriplegic or otherwise disabled people to use an iPhone or more likely an iPad.

      Hmm, i thought people could do bath things, in the bath. You know, like clean themselves, masturbate.

      Using an iphone, ipad, computer, laptop, etc, is not okay bathtime things.

      Don't forget the rubber duckys!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by adolf ( 21054 )

        Hmm, i thought people could do bath things, in the bath. You know, like clean themselves, masturbate.

        Hmm.

        If I want to clean myself, masturbate, I just take a shower.

        If I want to clean myself, masturbate, and read a book, I use the tub.

        Sometimes, I read books on my phone. Sometimes, I read books on my phone in the tub.

        But I still don't see the point in this new nose-stylus, since I can operate my Droid just fine with one hand, leaving the other one free to clean myself, masturbate.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by trawg ( 308495 )

      I was in the snow recently (a generally rare event for an Australian) and discovered that I couldn't use my phone when I had gloves on. Obvious in retrospect but not something I'd thought about ever, and it was a total PITA to have to take my gloves off to swipe to unlock my phone to see if I'd missed calls, SMSes, etc.

      I ended up using my nose to swipe the unlock, much to the hilarity of everyone else. It looked pretty silly (so I was told) but it meant I could unlock the phone without having to take my glo

  • So in other words... it's a dog emulator.

    Even kinda looks like Snoopy:
    http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-05/4/finger-nose-stylus/viewgallery#!image-number=2 [wired.co.uk]

  • Is it April 1st already!?

  • Welly welly welly (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:21AM (#36025312)

    As a bonus he's all set for a bit of the old ultraviolence

    • Very horrorshow.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Phrogman ( 80473 )

        Now, lets go find an old veck, razrez his platties, and take a malenky bit of cutter...

        (Mozilla's spellchecker doesn't think much of the above sentence), that was pretty much the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.

  • Thought the article got posted on the wrong date...

  • I had to double check that today wasn't April 1st. This has to be some kind of joke.

  • Well, that's depressing. Seriously, who would buy something like this? I use my phone (hell, even my laptop) in the tub *all the time* with no problem at all. Keep a hand dry, use your thumb. If you need both hands for whatever you're doing, keep a towel beside the tub. It's really not rocket science.

    But, yeah. Laptops and phones in the tub for 6 years now, and I've never had a problem.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Arlet ( 29997 )

      Laptops and phones in the tub for 6 years now, and I've never had a problem.

      Well, I guess your toes must have turned into prunes after 6 years.

    • Seriously, who would buy something like this?

      I cannot think of a better gag gift for that someone who is addicted these gizmos.

      Imagine the families' faces when that individual opens the gift to find a nose extension just as he/she had set down their iPhone... brilliant.

  • You can pick your friends and
    you can pick your nose,
    but you can't pick your friend's nose...

    Only now, You can!

    From the looks of it -- You can even pick your friend's nose with your nose.

  • I have a great device (Score:3)

    by Drakkenmensch ( 1255800 ) on Wednesday May 04, 2011 @11:30AM (#36025406)
    ... for operating my touchscreen while holding my phone one-handed: it's called my thumb.

    • ... for operating my touchscreen while holding my phone one-handed: it's called my thumb.

      Species-ist.... you great ape descendants and your opposable thumbs are so closed minded.

      Won't somebody think of the DOLPHINS?

  • I dub the the "iCyranose"

  • ...was to nose it a hair to the left

  • First it was the "remote kiss/tongue", now it's a nose extension for smartphones... There is another appendage that will eventually end up with an extension and "remote sensing" capability.
  • Que the lawsuits!
  • april first?....I hope so

  • A wet hand is not a good touchscreen navigation device, so he found himself using his nose to scroll, but found it hard to see precisely where his nose was touching the screen

    Check the picture in TFA (not the one in the summary). I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to guess what he's scrolling for.

  • there's a contrap for that.

  • Ouch!!! That hurt.

  • The Noselonger!

  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this prior art? http://www.wetlandsonline.com/ProductImages/strap-ons/se-1514-01.jpg [wetlandsonline.com]
  • This was already well-researched in the HCI literature, starting with Olsen's groundbreaking paper on the DataNose around 1986, and extended significantly by Brad Meyers, et al., in their 1991 UIST paper on Nose Gesture Interfaces and Rhino-Virtual-Reality in General.

    http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=120789 [acm.org]

  • ~OK~ (Score:2)

    by koan ( 80826 )

    What a tool...

  • addicted to the iphone? or the porn that's ON your iphone? one hand on the phone, the other on your privates...

  • What a silly invention.

    If you really want to use your iPhone/iPod touch in the bath, put it inside a zip-loc bag. Of course there is a chance of a little moisture passing through, so put the sealed bag inside another zip-loc bag. Just make sure that the labels of both bags are facing the back of your device so they don't obstruct your view.

    And yes, you can still control the touch screen even through two layers of plastic and using your wet finger.

    Extra tip: get sandwich-sized bags of two different brands, s

  • What kind of ham fisted simian is incapable of using a touch screen smart phone with one hand? I can do all the required features of my Galaxy S just fine with one hand. I can't imagine a situation where this is required unless you are just too uncoordinated to exist in modern society.

    However, perhaps iOS is indeed too clunky to use with one hand. Perhaps he should just consider upgrading to a modern smartphone OS instead of sticking with a 5 year old piece of crap.

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