From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Wed Mar 31 13:17:28 1999 Return-Path: Received: from sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil (sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil [132.250.84.38]) by mc.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.1-mod) with SMTP id NAA29097 for ; Wed, 31 Mar 1999 13:17:28 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:46:33 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) From: Jerry Bryan Subject: Re : Keyboard cube [was: Re: Wrist pains] In-Reply-To: <199903302344.SAA11205@life.ai.mit.edu> To: Cube Lovers Message-Id: On Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:47:33 -0600 Norman Richards wrote: > > > [...] I was wondering if anyone had an idea for a "hands on > > keyboard" approach that would allow you to naturally move the puzzles' > > slices. > > I fought with this issue back in about 1985 when I was originally working on the 2x2x2 and the corners of the 3x3x3. I created a data base for each, with a program which would allow you to manipulate the cube on the screen, and the program would always show you your exact distance from Start. Actually, the screen would show you two renderings of the cube -- one was the cube you were manipulating and the other was the representative of the same cube under reduction by symmetry. It was the representative that was looked up in the data base. I tried all kinds of input mappings, none of which were very satisfying. One obvious thing to try is U for Up, D for Down, etc., but on a QWERTY keyboard this is not very easy to deal with. Keyboards in 1985 only had a numeric pad, not the additional arrow and page up/down keys of modern keyboards. Within the numeric pad, I ended up using up arrow for U, down arrow for D, right arrow for R, and left arrow for L. That left the question of F and B. It *sounds* kind of dumb, but using the numeric pad + key for B and the numeric pad 0/INS key for F worked about as well as anything. With these mappings, I could manipulate the cube without looking at the keyboard and with very little movement of my hand. I used the shift keys for things like U' and U2. So left shift plus up arrow was U' and right shift plus up arrow was U2, etc. I read the shift keys directly from the keyboard hardware (this was early DOS, and you could do such things). I wouldn't necessarily recommend accessing the hardware so directly these days. However, I found that I almost never used the shift keys. Rather, I would tap the up arrow key quickly three times for U', and I would tap the up arrow key quickly two times for U2. I did not implement an interface for whole cube moves. Rather, to rotate the whole cube I would do something like RL' or R'L or UD' etc. Well, this works for the 2x2x2, but not for the corners of the 3x3x3. It's tricky to make the interface simple and intuitive, and also to make it functionally rich at the same time. ---------------------------------------- Jerry Bryan jbryan@pstcc.cc.tn.us Pellissippi State Technical Community College