Hands Are Not Cursors

Hands are made to interact with the world. They lift a glass and feel its weight shift. They hold a hammer, adjust their grip, and sense resistance, pressure, texture, temperature, shape, and force. Most of that intelligence happens below language, in the body.

That is why touchscreens, and headset interfaces where we pinch or tap in mid-air, are stepping stones at best. They treat the hand as a cursor with fingers attached, when in reality hands feel and manipulate things.

Computers should expand that range, not collapse it into glass taps and air gestures. A future interface worth wanting should respect the body as much as the screen.

I keep this as part of my Made for Humans principle: human bodies, especially hands, are not generic pointing devices.