Let's Reinvent the Scroll Wheel

Let's Reinvent the Scroll Wheel(scrollpods.app)

7 points by tippa123 62 days ago | 14 comments

raldi 59 days ago |

This post would be improved by adding a sentence explaining what ScrollPods are. I don't mean the technical details that you promise in an upcoming post, but rather anything whatsoever about what it's like to use them.

fusslo 59 days ago | |

my BIGGEST pet peeve.

Tell me what the thing IS! It's shockingly common for READMEs or About pages to already assume the reader knows what the product/project is.

> ScrollPods lets you scroll hands-free on your Mac with your AirPods in a precise, smooth, continuous, dynamic and inconspicuous way.

That's BELOW the viewport of my browser. So to figure out what the product is, I have to scroll. Maybe that's by design?

Honestly one sentence at the beginning explaining that "ScrollPods" is software that lets you use airpods (or compatible headphones) to scroll would be really helpful

netsharc 59 days ago | | |

Agree.

Hah, there's a wall of text that starts with the developer's life story (whooo cares), some graphic that didn't explain anything. Read the conclusion and ask myself "did they implement a dictionary app?", and I had to click "Get ScrollPods" and navigate away from the page and guess it's something to do with ears/headphones and scrolling.

The text "lets you use airpods (or compatible headphones) to scroll would be really helpful" is also not very specific, mentioning the gyroscope would make it clear.

tippa123 58 days ago | |

Fair comment. It’s a macOS app that lets you scroll hands-free with your Apple headphones (AirPods Gen 3+, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max) by gently nodding your head up or down. You can also set it up to scroll by moving your head right or left. I also strongly agree with your final comment, as I have a lot to share about what it’s like using ScrollPods day to day and the convenience that comes with this. Like sipping an iced coffee with right hand instead of scrolling or sitting 1 meter away from my desk to stretch my legs while reading a presentation. Thanks for reminding me and I will prioritise this in my next blog post.

netsharc 58 days ago | | |

> It’s a macOS app that lets you scroll hands-free with your Apple headphones (AirPods Gen 3+, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max) by gently nodding your head up or down.

Man, you write too damn much.

"Use your AirPods to scroll on macOS by head movement".

kej 59 days ago | |

The main page has a better introduction, but it would still be improved by a video of a person using.

https://scrollpods.app/

Sohcahtoa82 59 days ago |

So what, this uses the gyroscope in AirPods (Why do headphones need a gyroscrope?) to turn head movements into scrolling?

Sounds like a terrible idea. Like...cool. I decided to move my head around to stretch my neck and now I've lost my position on the document I was reading.

I'll keep my scroll wheel.

tippa123 58 days ago | |

Because of Spatial Audio. Give it a try, you will be positively surprised. Especially on scrolling via turning your head horizontally. On the problem you described I implemented a gesture called pause. Meaning if your head exceeds the degrees you have specified it will pause ScrollPods automatically.

Sohcahtoa82 58 days ago | | |

I don't own AirPods and never will. I file them under "They sound amazing if you've never listened to headphones that actually sound amazing". The same category as Beats by Dre.

And why would I ever want Spatial Audio? If I'm listening to music, I don't need to sound like it's coming from a specific direction. If I'm watching a video, it's already going to have stereo sound. I don't need it to change based on head movements. If I'm on a Zoom/Teams meeting, I know I can create positional audio, and moving my head to face the voice is just going to be weird.

The scroll wheel works. I don't need to replace it. If I want to free up that hand, I think the better solution is eye tracking from the web cam on top of my screen.

clickety_clack 59 days ago |

I love seeing new ways of interacting with computers. Using head tilts to scroll sounds awesome!

jpease 59 days ago |

I tried using scrolling via macOS built-in assistive technology head tracking.

Voluntarily moving the repetitive motion of scrolling from my hands to my neck felt the opposite of ergonomic.

Curious how this is different.

tippa123 58 days ago | |

Head tracking is not precise enough from my experimentation. ScrollPods provides a scrolling experience on par to that of a trackpad/mouse in my opinion. Also give horizontal scrolling a try which is turning your head left and right to scroll down/up. The best way to describe it is surprisingly natural. Happy to hear any feedback whether it's constructive or positive.

JonathanRaines 59 days ago |

I don't think you mean "Alas, ScrollPods was born". Maybe "And thus,..."?

tippa123 58 days ago | |

Yikes that's embarrassing. Thanks for pointing this out and as you can see some good ol human error ;)