Customer Reviews

Fingerworks iGesture Pad

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I have owned my iGesture pad for about a year now, and would like to share my observations with the Amazon community. Especially since the product page doesn't tell you anything about it!

This product is a mouse alternative. It's basically a flat, smooth surface; there are no moving parts. An embedded processor responds to the contact and motion of your finger(s) (which are referred to as "gestures") and translates that to common mouse commands or keyboard macros. It connects via USB; I've used mine on Windows (2KPro and XP).

I bought this for two reasons, one practical, one not.

Ergonomics: The traditional mouse was starting to cause me trouble in the hands -- I'd get pain after increasignly-shorter use periods. And, that pencil-eraser-like nubbin on my laptop keyboard is awful for my hand. The iGesture is a vast improvement -- no fatigue or pain after long periods of use. The required touch is extremely light, so there's no pressure on the muscles.

Cool factor: Ever see that movie "Minority Report" where they move stuff around this glass panel using their hands? It's kinda like that, and it really works! Granted, the pad is smaller, and your monitor doesn't change :) but the idea of the gestures works.

In its basic mode, there are certain groups of gestures that map to things like mouse movements, left- and right-click, double-click, and scroll. There are also keyboard substitutes, like cursor movements (the arrow keys), cut, paste, copy, undo/redo. There are also gestures for other common "super-mouse" functions like browser fwd/back, and zoom. You can even switch among apps (a la Windows ALT-TAB).

(There are also other modes, such as EMACs, Photoshop, and GAME modes, but I've never tried them.)

It took me a couple of days for these to become second nature, but the learning curve wasn't steep at all; it comes with a handy cheat-sheet to help you through those first few days. The gestures are pretty intuitive (for example, for the "cut" command, you make a motion like you're picking something up with your finger and thumb), which helps.

After a few days, I was using it to read my mail and maintain my inbox (MS Outlook) without touching the keyboard or using a pull-down menu. With one exception: there was no gesture for the "delete" key. But, from their website, you can download a utility which allows you to edit the built-in gesture-to-action mapping, so I just found an empty gesture (I could have overridden an existing gesture), and programmed it for the delete keystroke. Worked great.

As an added bonus, it's really slim (less than a half-inch think) so it slips into my laptop bag really easy, unlike a standard mouse.

All accompanying software (such as the gesture editor mentioned above, firmware updates, etc.) have all been stable.

If you have more questions, be sure to check their website (fingerworks.com) for details.

Disclaimer: I don't work for, know anyone who works for, nor am I otherwise compensated by FingerWorks. I just like this product!

I've been looking for a trackpad to replace my optical mouse. Wrist fatigue was setting in. I love the trackpad on my Apple PowerBook but couldn't find anything comparable for the PC except for very small pads. I tried using a pen-based pad but that was quickly wrapped up and taken back to the store.

I stumbled upon iGesture and figured I'd give it a try. I've had connected for a few hours and it works wonderfully. I had the basic mouse navigation gestures down in 5 minutes. It's a piece of cake to learn and the drivers installed flawlessly under Windows XP.

I have more to learn, however the iGesture unit has been working great so far. I highly recommend trying it out.

I bought the product from Amazon and opted for the 2-day shipping. I got it in two days - thanks!

By around 11 AM every day, my wrist would be killing me from using the mouse. I'd switch hands and then both wrists would be hurting. Using a trackball helped a little, but not very much. I got an iGesture touchpad and it helped immediately. Even though I'm right handed, I put it to the left of my keyboard, so I don't have to move my hand far to use it. I tend to use my pinky and ring finger to move the mouse pointer, which lets me keep my hand in a more natural, close to vertical, position.

The gestures take some practice. There's only about 5 that I use regularly so far (minimize, close, right click, drag, paste, and scroll), but they are quite handy. It's a little tricky until you get the hang of it. For the first week I'd frequently grab my mouse (I keep both plugged in) when I needed to do something fast and was frustrated with using the touchpad. Now I use the touchpad almost exclusively.

I still get a little pain some days near the end of the day, it might be that it'll take a while to undo the damage to my wrists. If only I'd gotten this touchpad earlier.

i took a serious chance ordering this.
and man did it pay off.
after about two hours of going back and forth
from screen to cheat sheet
i had 90% of the gestures memorized.
it was surprisingly easy to get the hang of.

fingerworks went to great pains to make it as intuitive as possible. so much in fact that now, when i'm away from home and using a dated pointing device [mouse] i catch myself trying to use it like my igesture.

i did expect it to be a bit larger, but I love it just the same.
a very large hats to the people at fingerworks, even inspite of thier terrible website.

I've been using the iGesture for over a year and would never go back to a mouse. It's lightyears beyond the crummy touchpads that come on many laptops. It's beautifully responsive, accurate, and has a very simple learning curve (it may take a while to remember all the short-cut gestures, but you'll pick up the basic moving and "clicking" almost immediately.

Althought it comes with software, it was basically plug and play for me. The iGesture is also very slim and compact so it would work well with a laptop or for anyone who travels.

I originally bought the iGesture because of problems with RSI in both hands (I also bought an ergonomic keyboard). The combination of the two has made loads of difference. I hardly ever have trouble now unless I work for hours on end without taking a few breaks.

Totally worth it! It takes me half the time now in daily computer usage. And it was easy to learn basic technique, but expands to a powerful tool. My hands touch the keyboard only when typing, e.g. no back and forth for opening/closing documents. I Highly recommend for anyone whose wrists hurt or are tired of the mouse or complicated replacements.

I usually don't believe stories for miraculous healings, wonderdrugs and panacea. However. I bought the iGesture Pad 2 years ago hoping it would give me more precision and control in my graphic design work. I was too impatient though and gave up before learning the gestures and before my hand "got" the new habits necessary to operate a touchpad. So I put it back in the box for over an year.

Fast forward to 2005 and a constant pain in my right wrist resulting from 60+ hours a week with an Intellimouse Explorer (Optical) mouse in my hand. After I started having trouble sleeping (the wrist!) I decided to try the touchpad again - put the mouse in the drawer and this time didn't give up but patiently kept *relaxing* my hand, looking up and repeating the most frequently used gestures (right-click, double-click, copy, paste, scroll, home, end).

It took a few weeks and the constant wrist pain and tension faded away. I haven't seen a doctor but I can tell when I hurt and when I don't so here you go. No panacea but a better tool which worked out for me.

One of the "AHA!" moments for me was when I discovered that you can *lean* your fingers touching the pad and get small and very precise cursor movements. I have used the pad for over 8 months now, and it works perfectly. Keep in mind that if you have chronically sweaty hands the pad may not work for you.

I put some index cards under the left side of the pad so that it doesn't lie flat on my desk - now it is at about 15 degrees related to the desk surface which allows for a more natural position of my wrist.

Also, I love the fact that no pressure is needed, the lightest touch does the job. This brings awareness to my tension when I have it and changes my work experience.

The company producing the pad has ceased operations but you may be able to find it on eBay. Good luck!

The touch pad itself is awesome. It works great and really reduces your need for swapping from keyboard to mouse often. There is a huge amount of functions that this touch pad can do. But...

If you live in a high static area (IE the desert) be warned that it will cause your iGesture (and other Fingerworks products) to be unusable. It will cause erratic input that will drive you nuts. Regularly the pad will start moving the pointer and selecting stuff, even clicking on things. I've had it erase items a few times.

If you really want one, you will need to buy anti-static products with it. I have the anti-static matt on order and I have some anti-static cleaning products on their way. You will also want to have a known good ground to connect the static matt to. My anti-static wrist cable does not work at all for me, because it's not me causing it to go crazy but the static in the air. It will start acting up even when I walk into the room before I even sit down.

So be warned. If you don't live in a static prone area, then the pad is awesome!

I was introduced to this product by a colleague who had wrist problem with her mouse and I heard enough testimonies to know it works well for relief of wrist, arms, and shoulder strain. The functionality of this product is just amazing, it is so much more than a regular mouse. It took only two days for me to get into it and use it with ease.

However, I ended up returning the unit after about one week. After I use it regularly, starting on the third day, I feel a burning sensation and irritability on my finger tips at night. Later on the sensitivity becomes so great that the moment I put my finger on the pad, I feel the static electricity flowing through and shocking my fingers. It was so uncomfortable. Other people who used similar product don't seem to have this complaint so it could be my own sensitivity. So I still suggest you try it if you are seeking an alternative to mouse. Amazon allowed me to return the pad based on this reason I stated, so I say there is nothing to loose.

I'm crying because this product is discontinued. Its so much better than a mouse! Someone please buy the patent and make it again!! iGesture rocks!