I'm Michelle (the girl in the video). This thread is really fascinating to me. I'll add some more details to the discussion below. I was diagnosed with epicodylitis (tennis albow) and I tried a range of different treatments: electrical therapy, accipunture, anti-inflammatory tablets and some kind of light therapy(?) But without any results (probably why I can't remember the last treatment).
Also notised there were some questions about neck pains, If I adjust the nose-pad to the right level and angle it right it forces me to sit up straight. However, in the video my back is arched quite a lot because I was sitting at a table that was too low (but it was only a temporary setup).
I read the entire article and was amazed ... not by your solution per-se but rather by your attitude. I don't know anything about you but I'm going to say your greatest asset is your sense-of-humor (even shown in the picture). You're obviously talented - so much so that it had to ooze out of you somehow, but most people wouldn't consider doing what you've managed to do (and certainly wouldn't have publicized it).
A scientifically minded approach to pain can be found at https://www.painscience.com/ No magic bullets, but perhaps something that can help.
As for my two cents, I like trigger points. I have used that technique effectively for years to eliminate angry pain. While the science is apparently still questionable, it is a simple method (find some painfully acute spots somewhere around sources of pain and massage it for 20 seconds or so, several times a day). It is talked about at the site above in addition to a variety of other pain management notions, mainly with a scientifically disappointing dose of reality mixed into it all.
@26m John explains that it's really hard to get a diagnosis for the actual problem. You'll get all kinds of advice on the web where people will tell you to go to a doctor. Unfortunately, it's really hard for a doctor to determine the source of the problem.
About a minute later he explains how the problem might not even be in your hands, it could be in your shoulder, for example, but you might feel the pain in your hands.
Thanks Michelle for sharing your unbelievable yet amazing story. You have made me to regain trust in human power which seems infinite. God bless you and I wish and pray you get your hands cured and you use both mouse and nosePad to create awesome stuff.
I was going to suggest this as well. I found it was too difficult for me to apply it totally successfully to my playing, but studying it has been great for just everyday life and computer stuff where I tend to have a lot of unnecessary tension.
Michelle, you are a beautiful person inside and out. Most people would have quit and gone on to have a miserable life away from their occupation of choice. You did not. That's commendable.
And sharing this. Bold. Lots of people would be afraid of ridicule. Remarkable.
Finally, much must be said about Omada Health, a company that looked past your handicap and allowed you to do things your way in a nurturing environment. They deserve huge praise and recognition for this.
I hope you are able to reach out to others who might be able to benefit from your ideas. I am sure your story will be inspiring to many even when not exactly in your shoes. Sometimes people just need to realize there might just be other ways to see their problems.
You need to be a featured speaker at a TED conference.
In case it helps others, here's a picture of a custom desk I designed and built many years ago as I started to suffer from carpal tunnel, elbow, shoulder and back problems. I am convinced paying attention to ergonomics saved my hands.
I use crazy input devices on crazy ways too. Magic trackpad and a 3d connection 3d mouse on a TV arm screwed to the wall along the computer screen so I can work standing up or with a stool.
A a lap-along wearable stenotype device instead of keyboard. Speech recognition for other things.
I can work much better, more comfortable and faster than anybody else after years of training.
It seems to me the more different input devices, the better, because one can quickly switch the input device when it becomes too repetitive. I’m currently experimenting with a vertical mouse (Anchor), a handheld trackball (IMAGE), a handheld touchpad (Perixx), a vertical keyboard (Kinesis Freestyle2), an ergonomic keyboard (Kinesis Advantage), a sitting/standing desk (IKEA) and a sitting ball. The most effective changes seem to be the vertical keyboard, the remote trackball, the new desk and a couple of streching exercises I started doing. While the Advantage does relieve the pinkies in Emacs, it still feels inferior to the vertical Freestyle2 because the forearms are still in a twisted pose. I think I tend to overly cramp my hands and fingers so that I’m experiencing RSI even without overly long working hours.
can you say more about the details of your setup? I have pretty serious RSI and I've tried all sorts of input devices, but have never found a good keyboard setup.
Thanks for sharing your story. I work as a software engineer and have struggled with mild RSI for many years. I cannot use a flat keyboard or touchpad like you have in your video. What works for me:
- Goldtouch GTU-0088 V2 Keyboard.
- Evoluent VerticalMouse 4, raised up on a book to be the same height as the keyboard.
- Single monitor at proper height.
- Hourly breaks to walk around.
- Motorized sit/stand desk, alternating after every break.
- Mindfulness meditation practice, which helps me be more sensitive to my body.
- Sitting up straight more often.
Have you tried any of these? How did they work out for you? What worked better for you?
Have you found yourself having different design ideas after this change? Or having developed a new style in your creations because of "mistakes" you make when you can't control your nose very well?!
Can you mention examples where you ended up designing differently?
You've got a great sense of humor and personality. You're photogenic. As for the story, it seems things worked out best when people accepted you could do great work without expecting how you had to do it. Very inspirstional story!
I don't know (or care) what most people associate with "Genius", but I couldn't help that word from reverberating around my mind when I was reading about your setup.
I want to ask you so many things! Would you be open to an AMA (ask me anything) of some sort? A few things that I'm curious about:
General
* How do you click? Do you have tap-to-click turned on, or do you use press harder with your nose to trigger the magic trackpad's "click" threshold? If the latter, does your nose hurt after prolonger use?
* What kind of gestures do you have? What kind of gestures would you create, if you could create any gestures at all? Have you found third-party software to facilitate this? (I imagine the default software hasn't considered mouth gestures at all)
* Do you use this setup for your creative work alone, or for casual computer usage as well?
Performance & Accuracy
* You mention that you've gained the same level of accuracy as with your hands, and that's the most important factor (to me, at least). A secondary one, though, would be speed. Do you notice any considerable difference in your "input performance" when you use the nose/mouth setup vs. traditional input methods? How was your learning curve with respect to accuracy and then speed? (I'd expect you to have gained accuracy first and then built up performance over time)
* What's your pointer speed & acceleration like? I imagine both to be quite low, otherwise you'd have to perform very precise and minute movements in order to to high-precision stuff. For example, can you move your pointer from top-left corner of your screen to your bottom right with one movement? (I would think not). Is that the kind of thing that you'd complement with a mouse?
* Tangent on previous question: Are your "nosepad" settings (speed/accel) different than your trackpad/mouse settings? If not, is that a System limitation that you have accepted (optimizing for the nosepad, I'd imagine)?
Social
* Do you receive negative real-world reactions to your setup? Are people largely accepting & encouraging?
* What kind of feedback & reactions have you received online, after publishing this?
I'd like to emphasize again that I was blown away by your creativity. You exhibit the hacker spirit to the fullest. If you receive any hate because of this, I hope my enthusiasm counteracts that a bit :) I know that one negative comment can outweigh 1000 positive ones.
EDIT - more question(s)
* How has your posture evolved through time? I'd be surprised if you never had issues with your back/neck, but it seems that you've found the right posture that minimizes that strain.
Also notised there were some questions about neck pains, If I adjust the nose-pad to the right level and angle it right it forces me to sit up straight. However, in the video my back is arched quite a lot because I was sitting at a table that was too low (but it was only a temporary setup).