Wicked Cool mouse idea

sledgehammersledgehammer
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
OK, how's this for totally impractical, but very very cool.



Optical mouse that uses magnets a mouse pad of some sort, and in the mouse itself, so that it never touches the ground. It just hvers slightly above it



I can imagine some drawbacks, but it would also be really neat.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    It would generate no friction at all! Ideal for gaming, and very cool. I'd probably buy one set, if the drawbacks weren't huge (I can't think of any right now). I've always wanted a mouse with stable and low friction!
  • Reply 2 of 26
    occamoccam Posts: 54member
    Err, one drawback would be that the mouse could easily float away when your hand leaves it. I guess it would settle to the tabletop (or floor) when it left the magnet proximity, but there you go.



    OTOH, if the mouse could somehow tether to a central magnet, there would be an invisible centering mechanism pulling the mouse back to the center of the magnet area after each use. That would be an upgrade!



    Cool mouse idea.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Until you want to click on something. Click, mouse moves, expletive, move mouse back, try to click, mouse moves, expletive.



  • Reply 4 of 26
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    Such powerful magnets would maybe **** up the LED and the internal components of the mouse...
  • Reply 5 of 26
    ringoringo Posts: 329member
    The problem here is that there's no way to make a mouse stay upright by itself using only permanent magnets. I've heard of a way you can use a special arrangement of permanent magnets that will only repel each other when one of them is moving. From what I remember, I doubt it would work in any direction.



    Also, what if someone put a piece of magnetic media down on the mouse pad? Yeah, that's just asking for trouble.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ringo

    The problem here is that there's no way to make a mouse stay upright by itself using only permanent magnets. I've heard of a way you can use a special arrangement of permanent magnets that will only repel each other when one of them is moving. From what I remember, I doubt it would work in any direction.



    Just use a dish of liquid helium for your mouse pad -- go for that neat superconductor levitation effect. Of course, you have to be very careful where you put your fingers.
  • Reply 7 of 26
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ringo



    Also, what if someone put a piece of magnetic media down on the mouse pad? Yeah, that's just asking for trouble.



    Or imagine powering up a big CRT. The mouse would wobble on the desk.
  • Reply 8 of 26
    reidreid Posts: 190member
    Wouldn't the thing just flip over violently whenever you let go of it?
  • Reply 9 of 26
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    I have a better idea that could be used to acheive a similar effect. Use "air-hockey" technology. Your mousepad will have hundreds of tiny pores which will emit pressurized air. The mouse now glides over the pad frictionlessly on a cushion of air.



    Do not ask me about how to get all th pressurized air to emit from the mousepad. (Perhaps just use a real air hockey table).



    Hell, put your whole setup on an air hockey table and your whole computing experience now floats gracefully on a cushion of air.
  • Reply 10 of 26
    sledgehammersledgehammer Posts: 505member
    Yeah, I thought of most of those things. But picturing my mouse floating ever so slightly above my desk is just so cool



    Oh well...maybe someday...
  • Reply 11 of 26
    flossieflossie Posts: 12member
    Earnshaw's theorem in physics says it is impossible unless maybe if the mouse itself is diamagnetic as a whole. Though then you really have to take care where you position the magnets ( no magnets in the mouse itself).



    For real magnetic levitation visit this page:



    http://www.hfml.kun.nl/levitate.html
  • Reply 12 of 26
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    How about this? http://www.spodesabode.com/content/article/gyration/1



    Hmmm... Perhaps with a magnetic monopole the mag-lev idea would work well. Now lets discover one!
  • Reply 13 of 26
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    psh...just use mercury...its EXTREMELY dense, and will be smooth since its a liquid...but it in a rubber shell (wristpad like) and your set





    what health risks?



    man i want to fill a pool with mercury and walk on it...supposedly you'd be able to since its so dense
  • Reply 14 of 26
    weeeeeedashweeeeeedash Posts: 59member
    Or you could just get a RatPadz...The mouse just glides on it...Very little friction...
  • Reply 15 of 26
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    Won't all these high-tech and cool looking mouse cost a bomb???



    Think I will stick to my tried and tested samsung optical mouse.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    A slight evolution from the air idea above.



    What if a small stream of high pressure air was used to lift the mouse off the mousepad. A tiny tube for high pressure air (would 50PSI do?) could be attached to the USB cable and forced through 4 1/4" jets in the bottom of the mouse. A small compressor could be located under the computer desk. This would allow the mouse to work on more surfaces without the use of a special mousepad.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    jccbinjccbin Posts: 476member
    The world's loudest mouse



    Like a hovercraft, just closer to your ears.
  • Reply 18 of 26
    zharazi7zharazi7 Posts: 13member
    how about a gyroscopic mouse that doesn't need to move, just tilt it in the direction you want to move. Degree of tilt = how fast it moves. Eh, just an idea.
  • Reply 19 of 26
    wrong robotwrong robot Posts: 3,907member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Bancho

    I have a better idea that could be used to acheive a similar effect. Use "air-hockey" technology. Your mousepad will have hundreds of tiny pores which will emit pressurized air. The mouse now glides over the pad frictionlessly on a cushion of air.



    Do not ask me about how to get all th pressurized air to emit from the mousepad. (Perhaps just use a real air hockey table).



    Hell, put your whole setup on an air hockey table and your whole computing experience now floats gracefully on a cushion of air.





    being the air hockey nut I am...this is the best post I've read in a long time
  • Reply 20 of 26
    monkeyastronautmonkeyastronaut Posts: 1,343member
    I want a mouse that lights up under low light conditions, like the PB17's keyboard.
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