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Out of curiosity, did you consider creating a browser extension version of your software? As a developer of a dictation extension for Chrome [0] I see that it g

Out of curiosity, did you consider creating a browser extension version of your software? As a developer of a dictation extension for Chrome [0] I see that it gets a lot of use for accessibility purposes. I once experimented with a tremor-compensating extension and some css that hid the “natural” cursor and overlaid a cursor image instead whose position I controlled (using a basic rolling window average to make it steady). This basic test seemed to hold up. That could potentially open up a whole new market for you…? Just curious if you’ve considered this. Don’t hesitate to reach out by email too if this sounds interesting! [0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dictation-for-gmail/eggdmhdpffgikgakkfojgiledkekfdce https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dictation-for-gmai...

DeathArrow 4y ago
Can you hook the mouse in a browser extension?
- selcuka 4y ago
  You can detect the location but no, you can't change the position of the pointer using Javascript.
  - tylergetsay 4y ago
    you could draw a fake one
    - gregsadetsky 4y ago
      Exactly. You hide the native cursor with css and show an image on top of the page whose position you move around.
      - jmt_ 4y ago
        This would work visually but I think you'd run into a lot of edge cases where JS/CSS/the browser itself is expecting to hook into or access mouse APIs
        nso 4y ago
        Yeah, imagine fake mouse is clicking a Save-button, but real mouse is up in the corner clicking the browsers Close-button.
        gregsadetsky 4y ago
        I agree, these questions are part of the work that would be required to take it from a prototype to something useable. You could maybe add one big transparent layer on top of the page which would catch all "real" clicks and generate synthetic mouse events under the layer at the stabilized position. Browsers aren't an "ideal" environment (versus an OS where you might be able to hook into the mouse position/display at a lower level), but at the same time, they are ubiquitious, cross-platform, etc. Might be worth a shot to expand this more. It's on my long list of side projects -- I'd love to collab with someone on it!

DeathArrow 4y ago

Can you hook the mouse in a browser extension?

selcuka 4y ago
You can detect the location but no, you can't change the position of the pointer using Javascript.
- tylergetsay 4y ago
  you could draw a fake one
  - gregsadetsky 4y ago
    Exactly. You hide the native cursor with css and show an image on top of the page whose position you move around.
    - jmt_ 4y ago
      This would work visually but I think you'd run into a lot of edge cases where JS/CSS/the browser itself is expecting to hook into or access mouse APIs
      - nso 4y ago
        Yeah, imagine fake mouse is clicking a Save-button, but real mouse is up in the corner clicking the browsers Close-button.
        gregsadetsky 4y ago
        I agree, these questions are part of the work that would be required to take it from a prototype to something useable. You could maybe add one big transparent layer on top of the page which would catch all "real" clicks and generate synthetic mouse events under the layer at the stabilized position. Browsers aren't an "ideal" environment (versus an OS where you might be able to hook into the mouse position/display at a lower level), but at the same time, they are ubiquitious, cross-platform, etc. Might be worth a shot to expand this more. It's on my long list of side projects -- I'd love to collab with someone on it!