The side-effect that destroyed touch-screens as a mainstream input
technology despite a promising start in the early 1980s. It seems the
designers of all those {spiffy} touch-menu systems failed to notice
that humans aren't designed to hold their arms in front of their
faces making small motions. After more than a very few selections,
the arm begins to feel sore, cramped, and oversized -- the operator
looks like a gorilla while using the touch screen and feels like one
afterwards. This is now considered a classic cautionary tale to
human-factors designers; "Remember the gorilla arm!" is shorthand for
"How is this going to fly in real use?".
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {videotex}]