Richard Nieva reports on SilentSpeller, a hands-free interface for inaudible texting. Developed by University of Tokyo PhD student Naoki Kimura, the prototype provides users with a 1164-word dictionary accessed through tongue movements detected by an existing smart retainer product. Working under the guidance of Google Glass technical lead Thad Starner, Kimura will present the project at CHI22 this spring; potential applications include aiding sufferers of Parkinson’s disease and other motion disorders.

In advance of the second Computer Mouse Conference, which is scheduled for next summer, artist and researcher Emma Rae Bruml Norton has launched The Mouse Sees “a series of discussions and research performances” that will take place in the coming months. Delving into the roots of human-computer intearction, Xerox PARC, and Apple’s early years, she promises to critically re-frame conversations around the pointing device—interaction design’s ground zero.