Touchscreen in calculators

[nsg]

Anyway, here is my firstest proptotype.

RPN Spreadsheet

This link is best opened by smartphone, this should simulate the experience that I have in mind. You have a device in your hand and it is pretty much a handheld calculator, but it utilizes powers of touchscreen in a way that fixed keyboard/indicator cannot provide.

Initially all you see is a spreadsheet. When you tap a cell, the keyboard pops up and that cell becomes rpn calculator. You can forget about all other cells and operate it as a regular scientific rpn calculator (this is a prototype, so only thing available is number entry, 4 basic arithmetic ops and sto/rcl and there is no text, formulas or programming). Tap cell again to deactivate keyboard and navigate through spreadsheet.


When you select another cell, the stack is preserved, but the regX is now the contents of that new cell (the cell is also highlighted to show which one acts as an "indicator")

You can also use all the cells you see as memory registers: tap STO and then cell to save current indicator to that cell (unlike regular tapping, this does not switch current cell). Same thing with RCL. RCL and cell copies contents of that cell to a current indicator and pushes old contents up.

I used chrome on my Android phone, so, I guess I am interested to hear if it is not working (or working) on other platforms.

(03-20-2017 01:38 AM)EugeneNine Wrote:  Are you planning on writing calculator software, wanting to build a new calculator?

Eugene,

I definitely want an actual device. I am pretty sure I can make an html-based prototype/emulator for a smartphone, designing and building an actual piece is a bit outside of my comfort zone.

Quote:Why a virtual keyboard, why not a slider such as: http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/pri...ifications

Slider is still a fixed keyboard. I want fluid mnemonic context sensitive keyboard that does not strain the memory as much as overloaded fixed keyboard. And is out of the way when it is not needed.

My prototype does not feature anything of this kind yet, but I hope by next weekend I will have something to illustrate my point.

So, what do you guys think? Am i up to something, or should've just done some yardwork this weekend instead?