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SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:47 am
by akell2
We have been told by a distributor that SmartNav is no longer being produced. Can you conform that this product is no longer available.
I was confused as you website still show it as an available product.

Are you planning to add samrt nav functionality to any of your other products?

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:35 pm
by mrgrtt123
I am not aware of that, let us wait for the administrator opinion about it. I thought it's doing well. :(

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 10:45 am
by Chris.Johnson
Hello,

Thank you for posting this question. I can confirm that SmartNAV is no longer in production. However, we will still continue to support SmartNAV. There are no plans to stop support, or repairs at this point. After 20 years of helping people to use their computers more effectively, SmartNav has now come to the end of life as a product.

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:42 am
by AusQuad2
Does this mean that SmartNav will no longer be supported?

Will dots be available for purchase in the future?

Are there plans to add 3.5mm audio switch support for Track IR?

Really feel like the whole disabled community is being locked out of the PC world by this decision. :(

What happens to quads in the future who need access to a PC?

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:48 pm
by AusQuad2
I just wanted to follow up my previous post by expressing how deeply disheartened I feel about Natural Points decision to discontinue the SmartNav.

As your previous post states SmartNav has been assisting disabled users to access their PC’s for 20 years (I personally have been using the SmartNav 3:AT & 4:AT for sixteen years).

What annoys me most is that instead of embedding the AT features of the SmartNav 4 within the Track IR; Natural Point has made a conscious and deliberate business decision to sideline disabled users by making them pay a $100.00 premium for Dwell Clicking software and an open source keyboard.

If Dwell Clicking and support for third party 3.5mm switches had been standard on all Natural Point devices (especially the Track IR) then this would have reduced the amount of SKU’s that Natural Point needs to manufacture while lowering the cost of AT devices for disabled persons and maybe making Assisstive Tech sexy.

Instead the business decisions of Natural Point now mean that an entire user group will be punished and disenfranchised at a critical time where touch devices leave users stranded with no option to interface with their screens.

If I have only one thing to add then I plead Natural Point to sneak the 4:AT features into the Track IR 6.

Please don’t leave us in the dark guys we’ve bought and love your products & would love to continue buying them in the future.

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2019 9:00 am
by akell2
Hi Ausquad2

I share your frustration. I am not a user but have used the smartnav with people paralysed by Spinal cord injury for many years - it was probably our main tool for computer access. I have 15 or so Smartnavs around, which are all now redundant as it is pointless trialling a product with someone that they cannot go on to buy. There are options, but all of these are much more expensive and often too much for people to buy.

I have also asked about trackir and if this could be used as a mouse, or if a 3rd party developer could develop the mouse movement functionality through the SDK. I have not heard if this is feasible. If it were it might be worth funding someone to develop it. I am not too concerned about the switch ports as there are other ways to add switches for mouse clicks, and other dwell click programs are available.

There are no great solutions around at the moment - lets hope someone in the tech world recognises this and comes up with something that both works well and is fair to those for whom this equipment is a necessity.

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:50 pm
by Neil Abrew
AusQuad2 wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:42 am Does this mean that SmartNav will no longer be supported?
In the post directly above yours, we mentioned that 'There are no plans to stop support, or repairs at this point.' Your concerns are valid but the only change is we are not selling new SmartNav units. We WILL support and repair all units and honor all existing warranties.
Will dots be available for purchase in the future?
Yes! They are still live on the SmartNav site, and will remain that way. You can also purchase them from the OptiTrack site here.
Are there plans to add 3.5mm audio switch support for Track IR?
No. However, the TrackIR SDK is becoming completely open soon so users and developers can freely develop mouse movement tech.
Really feel like the whole disabled community is being locked out of the PC world by this decision. :(
What happens to quads in the future who need access to a PC?
It is not our intention to lock anyone out of using their PCs. When SmartNav came out 20 years ago, there was very little in the way of offerings to help people engage with their PCs, but in 2019 there are plenty of alternatives to enable everyone access to computing. We are confident that there are options for people who need this technology, and that it doesn't have to come from us and in some instances will be less expensive than our existing offering!

Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:30 pm
by stychy
I am also a smartnav 4 User and I am not happy As as I have been using it for 11 years it's my life line I depend on it every single day can somebody please give me all my other options to smart technology well can use my computer as quick as I could use it with smartnav really in desperate need as my smartnav is very temperamental and keeps malfunctioning trying to :oops: buy one anywhere anyone please?

    Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

    Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:33 pm
    by stychy
    what alternatives are there?

    Re: SmartNav - no longer in production

    Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 7:13 am
    by akell2
    Hi Stychy
    There are number of differentoptions for controlling the mouse with your head. Here is a list of the ones I know about.

    TrackerPro and Tracker Pro 2
    https://www.ablenetinc.com/trackerpro-2

    Headmouse Nano
    http://www.orin.com/access/headmouse/

    QuHa Zono
    https://www.quha.com

    Smyle Mouse
    https://smylemouse.com

    Glassouse
    https://glassouse.com

    eViacam
    https://eviacam.crea-si.com

    CameraMouse
    http://www.cameramouse.org

    Most of these are quite a lot more expensive than the SmartNav. The exceptions are cameramouse and eViacam, which are a free software download that use a webcam instead of specific hardware.

    Hope this helps.