There are two ways to view the contents of a chord: expand its
node in the gesture tree, producing a vertical list of its gestures, or
select it to see the chord edit page. The chord edit page shows the gestures
as buttons arranged roughly according to direction of motion. On each
button you will see an icon for the direction of motion, the gesture name
and gesture hotkeys for the OS mode currently active in the Feature
Selector. Clicking a gesture's button will take you to the event edit
page for that gesture. Use the 'Back' tree-navigation button (w/green
left-arrow icon) to get back to the chord overview from the event editor.
The majority of chord gestures involve sliding motions. However,
there is one SyncTap gesture available for each chord, as well as
a TimeDown gesture and BeginSlide/LiftSlide events
that can be associated with each chord. The table below summarizes
these gesture types. Not every chord will allow all gesture types
to be mapped. For instance, hand scaling or rotation gestures are only
recognized for chords that include the thumb. And most modifier chords only
allow the SyncTap gesture to be mapped.
Icon | Gesture Motion |
Typical Usage |
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SyncTap (ChordTap) -- simultaneous tap of multiple fingers. |
Mouse Clicks and Modifier Chords, Enter or Escape |
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ChordHold -- events that prefix any slide motion events at the beginning of the slide, or if fingers have been held stationary a half second. |
For sustaining a mouse button or modifier key (e.g.
Alt or Space) throughout multi-finger slides until hand lifts. Generated at the beginning of any slide gesture, but not in response to Chord Tap gestures. |
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ChordLift -- events to be activated as hand lifts at end
of slide. |
For releasing any buttons or modifiers pressed by ChordHold
events. |
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Slide Up |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Down |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Left |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Right |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Diagonally Up & Right |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Diagonally Down & Right |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Diagonally Down & Left |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Diagonally Up & Left |
Arrow Keys or Command Gesture |
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Slide Horizontally & Vertically |
Pointing/Dragging |
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Slide Horizontally |
'Orthogonal' Pointing/Dragging |
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Slide Vertically |
'Orthogonal' Pointing/Dragging |
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Scroll & Pan |
Simultaneous Scroll & Pan |
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Pan |
Separate Pan |
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Scroll |
Separate Scroll |
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Hand Expansion |
Zoom Hotkeys or general Command Gesture |
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Hand Contraction |
Zoom Hotkeys or general Command Gesture |
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Hand Scaling (Expand/Contract) -- converted to
horizontal (X axis) pointer motion |
For Alt+Drag Zoom/Orbit emulation in Maya and other
3-D graphics apps |
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Hand Scaling (Expand/Contract) -- converted to
mouse wheel motion |
For Ctrl+wheel Zoom emulation in Microsoft Office &
web browsers |
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Clockwise Hand Rotation |
Rotate Hotkeys or general Command Gesture |
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Counter-Clockwise Hand Rotation |
Rotate Hotkeys or general Command Gesture |
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Hand Rotation (either way) -- converted to horizontal
(X axis) mouse pointer motion |
For Alt+Drag Camera Orbit emulation in Maya and other
3-D graphics apps |
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Hand Rotation (either way)-- converted to mouse
wheel motion |
For Shift+wheel rotation in Microsoft apps |
To add a slide in a new direction (e.g. diagonal), just click the icon
in the toolbar at the bottom of the page, and an empty button for that
direction should appear. The gesture addition toolbar only shows
slide directions that can be added without conflicting with the chord's
existing gestures.
To remove a slide or other action from the chord, just drag its button
onto the trash can and release. The button should disappear. After
removing all gestures along a motion axis (say horizontal or vertical),
the gesture addition toolbar will show more options for new gesture directions.
If you click the 'Defaults' button, the original arrangement of gestures
for the selected chord will be restored.
The chord edit pane for modifier chords shows only the SyncTap gesture at the center.
However, at the bottom of the page is a checkbox labeled
X Ignore modifier chord
keystroke if no opposite hand activity.
This checkbox determines whether an
isolated tap of the modifier chord, without striking another key on the opposite hand,
will generate the modifier keystroke. For instance, if you want to be able to popup the Windows
Start menu by tapping the T3F spread chord, you should uncheck this box. But if you're
afraid of accidentally touching this chord and popping up the Start menu, check this box
for the T3F spread chord. This also applies to the Shift, Ctrl, Alt, and AltGr modifier chords,
whose default settings for this checkbox may vary.