Synaptic Gestures

Main interface of the program

Inspiration

We found it frustrating that many old trackpads on computers running Windows lacked simple gestures necessary for basic productivity, while it was difficult to create custom macros for newer trackpads.

What it does

Synaptic Gestures allows users to select the type of gesture they would like to perform, then select the action that would correspond with that gesture. After they apply their new configuration, they can perform the gesture to execute the action.

Gestures include:

Tapping
Swiping up
Swiping down
Swiping left
Swiping right

Each gesture can be performed with one, two, or three fingers.

Actions include:

Copy
Paste
Switching between windows
Switching between virtual desktops
Going back in a browser
Middle clicking
Scrolling up/down/left/right
Minimizing/maximizing windows

How we built it

Electron, Node.JS, and HTML was used to build the UI, while a C++ backend was used to detect when gestures were performed. AutoHotKey was used to execute the actions.

Challenges we ran into

Tracking the position of the user's finger(s) on the touchpad while it was in absolute mode was the most significant challenge, as well as detecting the number of fingers on the trackpad.

What we learned

It was our first time using Electron and none of our team had done a project of this scale in C++ before. We learned a lot about how touchpads work as well.

What's next for Synaptic Gestures

Some features we would like to implement that we unfortunately didn't have the time to include:

Allowing users to create custom keyboard macros or AutoHotKey scripts for actions
More pre-selectable actions
More gestures, such as swiping diagonally, panning, and flicking from the edge of the touchpad