We like to use shortcuts for nearly every action we perform on our computer. Whether it be the the simple Ctrl+C-Ctrl+V or be it application specific shortcuts, we want to simplify our interactions with the system. A few programs like the Opera browser introduced a new concept of shortcuts known as “Mouse Gestures“. But mouse gestures provided very limited functionality and were software specific. StrokesPlus takes up this concept and extends it to support mouse gestures for all Windows applications.
StrokesPlus is a completely free Windows utility that can save mouse gestures for user defined actions. Just record the gesture and define what action to perform against it, and that’s it. Each time you do the gesture, the action defined against that gesture will be performed. If you are a developer, StrokesPlus gives you limitless possibilities of what actions you can automate. And you can do so with the help of built-in rocker support, modifiers, and a robust LUA engine.
Recording a gesture is easy in StrokesPlus. Just hold down the right mouse button, draw a shape (your preferred mouse gesture) and release the button. Now you can assign any action to the particular gesture. The application will “learn” it and trigger the specified action whenever the gesture is repeated.
Common gesture-controlled actions include maximizing or minimizing windows, navigating back and forth, or even logging into a particular website. But, with the help of a bit of scripting, you can use StrokesPlus to achieve just about anything. Using scripts, you define what action to perform automatically. Given below is what a sample script would look like. The script drags a box within drawn gesture bounds. There are some more sample scripts available in the official website. Refer the sample scripts to create your own user-action.
acConsumePhysicalInput(1) acMouseClick(gbl, gbt,2, 1, 0) acDelay(50) acMouseMove(gbr, gbb+2) acDelay(50) acMouseClick(gbr, gbb, 2, 0, 1) acConsumePhysicalInput(0)
StrokesPlus also supports Pen, touchpad or other input devices for gesture recognition. It also consumes very less memory and is quite an effective tool. So give it a try once and see if it is helpful for you.
More Gesture Recognition tools – Chrome and Firefox
Chrome and Firefox browsers also support mouse gestures now thanks to the respective browser extensions. The gestures are similar to the ones used in Opera and cover almost all common browser operations. Download and install your respective browser extensions below and enjoy gesture control on your favorite browser.
Download Gestures for Chrome(TM)
Download All-in-One Gestures for Firefox