Video tutorials can be a great resource when you’re trying to learn an instrument, but constantly having to take a hand off your keyboard or guitar to pause, rewind and play a clip can become frustrating.
This solution, say its creators, is SMASHMouse, a new device that enables you to replicate mouse control with your foot. In Mouse mode, you can roll your ankle and ‘smash’ the centre for primary click, with the right button engaging alt click. In Playback mode, you can use the 4-way pedal to trigger stop, rewind, record and fast-forward, with the centre button acting as a play/pause button.
It sounds like a solid concept, and the developer says that low-cost apps will add more functionality. You could use SMASHMouse as a page-turner/scroller, for example, or as a flexible MIDI expression pedal. DAW transport control also seems like an obvious application.
SMASHMouse is currently on Kickstarter, with an $80 pledge potentially getting you one by the end of the year.
