Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox is expected to have its Kinect heavily integrated into the system, but the company is looking past the home console market to have computers rely on it as well.
Microsoft’s TechFest is going on this week and the company is showing an updated version of its SDK which will introduce some new hand-gesture functionality to their programs. The new SDK will allow developers to have the user pinch-to-zoom with their hands and the ability to pan around the screen, all of which is done by waving and clenching their hands. Halfbrick’s Jetpack Joyride was demoed featuring the new Kinect SDK in order to show how games can make use of the new technology. (more…)
When it comes to computer input devices, there are a huge number of mice and keyboards out there. The sheer variety of computer mice available is incredible and one mouse may not do everything a computer user wants it to. Some people need a mouse for the office, a mouse for on the go, a mouse to use from across the room, and a mouse to use on the couch.
A new mouse is on Kickstarter called the Ego! Smartmouse and it looks like a single mouse that can do just about anything you might want a mouse to accomplish. You can use this mouse on the surface of your desk like you would any other mouse for controlling your computer pointer. You can also pick the mouse up, walk across the room, plop down on the couch and use the Ego! Smartmouse in the air like a 3-D pointing device to control multiple computers and devices.
The little mouse can even be used as a portable game controller for gaming from across the room. The mouse runs the Linux operating system and has an internal 400 MHz ARM-9 microcontroller. The mouse also has up to 4 GB of integrated memory along with a number of sensors including an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and an optical mouse sensor.
Wireless connectivity for the mouse is handled by an integrated Bluetooth chip. Other hardware features for the mouse include a VGA resolution camera, touch surface, a vibration motor, and LEDs. The mouse uses a lithium polymer rechargeable battery that gets power via a micro-USB port. I told you this mouse could do just about everything. Check out the video below to get a better idea of everything you can accomplish with the Ego! Smartmouse. The Kickstarter project is seeking £20,000 and has so far raised £14,249 with 36 days to go.
There is debate amongst users as to the pros and cons of a gaming mouse. Some claim there is no need for mice with such high DPI, while hardcore gamers might argue otherwise. That being said, perhaps a new debate might arise in the future as to whether we need a mouse that can levitate? As you can see in the picture above, that is a mouse that appears to be levitating. It is dubbed The Bat and it is a project by Kibardin Design and if you think that this is merely a concept, it is not because according to its page, its status reads as “testing”, indicating that perhaps at the very least a very early prototype exists in a crude form.
The goal of The Bat is to create a mouse that floats which according to the design team, will help prevent and treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The base of the mouse will feature a magnetic ring that will allow the mouse to float about 40mm when not in use, and at 10mm when you place your hand on it. The specifications read that it should support a weight of up to 1kg. We’re not sure if we will ever see The Bat hit the market and we’d hate to think how much it would cost, but it definitely looks good. Functionality also remains to be seen but what do you guys think? Would you be interested in such a product?
Gamers take their gaming sessions very seriously, and there are different kinds of gaming companies that offer various hardware configurations to cater for the vast diversity among humankind. After all, one man’s meat has been known to be another man’s poison, and this time around, we have Genius announcing what they call the Ultimate Gaming Combo, delivering the complete suite of gear required (at least, in Genius’ eyes) for smooth h PC gaming in a single package, and it comprises of the Genius GX Gaming Series Mouse, Keyboard and Headset.
This ”ideal toolset”, so to speak, is now available in the US and Canada. The 3 in 1 GX Gaming Series combo will merge together what Genius has classified as the elite products of the GX Gaming Series, where among them include the Maurus Black gaming mouse, Imperator gaming keyboard and Lychas gaming headset.
First of all, the Maurus Black Gaming Mouse will come with a bunch of customizable features, which has been touted to deliver a personalized experience. The Scorpion UI (User Interface) will enable you to save up to 21 macros, delivering a competitive edge even in the midst of a battle, while Maurus’ buttons, complete with default settings of left, right, middle with scroll, next page, and last page, can be programmed to offer gamers an even greater degree of customizable control. Apart from that, you can over-clock the SG Core engine, so that you can adjust the dpi to four different levels (450/900/1800/3500) directly from the mouse.
As for the Imperator Gaming Keyboard, it sports half a dozen programmable keys under 3 game profiles, letting you assign up to 18 macros. As for the included UI, it is a snap to manage and customize your macros. The Lychas Gaming Headset is perfect for LAN parties and competitions, thanks to its individual ear cup volume control. The asking price for this “combo”? $129.99 a pop, which is pretty decent actually.
A week ago, we learned about the Mycestro, a pointing device that, despite its unusual form, only has a humble goal: to replace your mouse. The Ego! Smartmouse on the other hand is quite the opposite. It looks like a traditional mouse, but it is much more than that. The question is, do we need a mouse that’s this smart?
Made by Laura Sapiens, the Ego! – no, no, no signore, it’s Ego! Put some life into it! – is a Bluetooth mouse that can be used both on a flat surface as well as on air. You can also use the Ego! to control your HTPC or other Bluetooth media players. It can also be used as a wireless flash drive. It can also be used to as a gesture-based gaming controller. It can also remember and automatically input your passwords for you. It can also vibrate to alert you of an appointment or a new email. If Old Spice were to design a mouse, they’d probably come up with an Ego! Except the Old Spice mouse would have a six-pack.
In order to perform all those tasks, the Ego! runs on Linux, has a 400MHz ARM9 CPU, a flash memory capacity of either 2GB or 4GB, a VGA camera, a touch sensor (in place of a scroll wheel), an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, a vibration motor and an optical mouse sensor. It’s got nothing on my mouse though! My Logitizzech M305,000 is covered in luxurious duct tape and has a special right-click button – 60% of the time, it works every time.
Here’s another look at the non-mouse features of this mouse:
Laura Sapiens is currently raising funds for the Ego! Smartmouse on Kickstarter. Pledge at least £70 (~$106 USD) to get one.
But back to my original question: how many people need a mouse this smart? The gestures for managing windows for example – is that actually faster than just using the mouse the normal way? How often do you need to move a file and yourself as well to another workstation? Will the VGA camera be good for anything else other than that gimmicky pairing method?
I’m not saying the Ego! is a bad mouse. I’m just not that convinced that it should exist. Partly because it’s making my mouse feel bad.
A new Kickstarter project called the Ego! Smartmouse blends together some recent trends in computing, including hardware identity authentication and 3D motion control to come up with a unique input device that wears many hats. The Ego! is a mouse in the traditional sense, allowing you to control your desktop or laptop computer, and it also has on-board file storage, can work as an authentication device for various services, and features built-in acceleration and motion detection to work like a Wiimote for controlling games.
The Smartmouse packs its own Linux-based OS into its compact design, with a 400 MHz ARM9 processor and up to 8GB of onboard flash storage. It connects via Bluetooth, has a gyroscope, compass and optical mouse sensor in addition to its accelerometer, and also includes a built-in VGA camera, touch-sensitive surface, vibration motor and notification LEDs. It charges via micro USB, and the project creators say it’ll get a decent amount of battery life thanks to the use of low-power tech.
Created by UK-based design firm Laura Sapiens, the Ego! Smartmouse is the product of a team with strong engineering and interaction design backgrounds. CEO Matteo Modè comes from an industrial and automotive engineering background, and the founding team also includes expertise in embedded security, consumer electronics, computer vision and embedded systems.
As you can see in the demo, the Ego! looks to be equally at home on the desktop, controlling media center PCs from the couch, or working with gaming applications to provide 3D controls. It can also automate routine tasks like opening a browser and logging into an email account, and be used as a presentation tool in combination with a projector. The on-board camera makes syncing the Ego! as easy as pointing the mouse at a QR code displayed on-screen (eliminating messy discovery and pairing procedures), and in an office setting it can be used to quickly and easily transfer files between workstations.
The team is looking for £20,000 in funding, with early pre-orders starting at just £70 for a 2GB black or white version of the Ego!, including international shipping. Higher storage is available for £110 (4GB) and £120 (8GB), both of which also offer up new color options as well.
Wearablemice have been done before, but Nick Mastandrea’sMycestro might be the best implementation of the form factor yet. Like other wearable mice, Mycestro – it’s pronounced “mice-tro”, get it? – is designed to be worn on your index finger. But instead of a small trackpad, Mycetro lets you control your cursor by waving your finger around.
If it seems like a stupid idea to you, temper your cynicism. Mycestro can be calibrated and it’s sensitive enough to read even small movements. You don’t have to emulate an orchestra conductor to move your cursor around. Aside from tracking motion, the Mycetro also has touch-sensitive left-, right- and middle-click buttons. You can swipe your thumb along those three buttons to scroll up or down.
Mycestro is also designed to activate only when your thumb is touching it, so you don’t have to worry about your cursor running wild while you move your hand about. That smart feature should also help conserve its battery, which lasts up to 8 hours and can be recharged via USB.
The Mycestro can also be used with devices that support Bluetooth 4.0. Here’s a brief demo of the Mycestro being used to control an Internet-connected TV:
Here Nick shows how it can be used to control Solidworks CAD software.
Pledge at least $79 (USD) on Kickstarter to reserve a Mycestro. It seems like a decent alternative to the traditional mouse, but I am curious if the Leap sensor – which is cheaper yet more versatile than the Mycestro – will render it obsolete. Then again it is more portable and has its touch-sensitive hardware going for it.
We all go through phases where we feel like we’ve seen every possible Kickstarter project that we’d ever want. And then one like Mycestro comes along and reminds us that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a 3D mouse that you strap to one of your fingers and it looks like it could become a huge asset for multi-tasking.
If you think about how you use your computer, be it a desktop or laptop, you know that your hands move from the keyboard to the trackpad or mouse constantly, over and over again. It’s wasted movement for the most part, especially when you see the possibilities that Mycestro unlocks. The only thing left is for it to get funded, because it looks like all of the prototypes work perfectly.
Its founder and creator, Nick Mastandrea, has been tinkering on this project for quite a while, having been featured in Engadget a few years ago, but it looks like it’s ready for primetime. You’ll be able to pick one up for a $79 pledge in white, or $99 with your choice of color. The estimated shipping date is sometime in October of this year, if all goes well.
Have a look at some of its features, which include touch buttons that allow you to navigate your computer without the need for moving your entire hand to a dedicated area on a computer, thanks to 3D technology and space recognition:
Here are the specs for the 3D Mouse:
– Size of a wireless earpiece. – Light, weighing next to nothing. – Internal battery can be charged via USB. – Battery life is estimated to be eight hours depending on usage. – Two different replaceable clip sizes.
This isn’t a completely perfect situation though, as you’ll have to re-learn how to use a mouse. The other thing is that if you’re in a coffee shop or somewhere in public, people are going to look at you like you have some issues. The thing is called the Mycestro for a reason; it looks like you’re conducting your own private orchestra. In other words, you’re going to look weird. If you’re okay with that, then the benefits outweigh the public shame and looks you might receive.
The device works from 30 feet away from your computer, thanks to Bluetooth, so you could use this for presentations at work. The touch technology it has reminds me of Google’s Project Glass, which allows you to tap a panel on the side of the wearable device to make things happen, like a mouse or trackpad. The other plus is that it’ll work with any iPad or iPhone, with Android support coming by the end of the year. This could be a nice way to have a lean-back experience with a tablet, or do the driving while someone else holds it.
Check out this demo using it with an Internet-enabled TV:
It reminds me of the Xbox Kinect a little bit, but it’s in your hand and requires no setup.
With 38 days left to go on its Kickstarter campaign, Nick Mastandrea and his team has raised $39,735 out of $100,000. I think if people can look past the Mycestro as a curious oddity and understand how this could make them more efficient on the computer, this thing will get funded, and then some. The team says that a version for lefties will come a bit after the original model. Personally, I use the trackpad and mouse with my right hand, even though I’m a lefty.
So who cares if people think you’re making hand gestures into thin air to nobody in particular. Aren’t people who use Bluetooth headsets already weird? Exactly.
There are already a variety of apps that turn iOS and Android devices into wireless mice or trackpads or both. Some of them are even free. But a company called Spicebox thinks you’ll want to pay for a peripheral that does just about the exact same thing. Will you want to spend some dollarz for its Mauz?
As shown in the image above, Mauz plugs into the dock connector of an iPhone 4, 4S or 5. It has three main modes, the first of which turns an iPhone into a mouse-cum-touchpad that has virtual left- and right-click buttons as well as a scroll wheel. Its second mode turns iPhones into a motion-sensitive controller, akin to a Wii controller. Spicebox says users will be able to map commands from various programs into gestures, from controlling your browser to your videogame character.
Finally there’s the visual gestures, a Kinect-like control mode that lets you execute commands just by waving your hand above your iPhone’s camera.
Pledge at least $49 (USD) on Kickstarter to reserve a 30-pin Mauz and at least $59 for the Lightning-compatible Mauz. I’m quite intrigued at the possibilities of this so-called “appcessory”, but this is one of those gadgets that needs great complementary software to succeed.
What happens when you have a company that is named “Genius”? Well, obviously you would expect to see plenty of mind boggling devices being rolled out from their production lines, don’t you think so? Thing is, Genius has been a normal peripherals manufacturer for the better part of the company’s lifespan, although credit must be given where it is due – the company has certainly taken more than a step up in ensuring that some of their more recently released peripherals are worth your time – and money, of course. The latest idea that was introduced by the folks over at Genius? Well, what you see here is a carbon grey Pen Mouse that sports a redesigned shape to deliver an improved grip and pen clip for portability.
Well, the Genius Pen Mouse will communicate with your computer of choice using 2.4 Ghz wireless technology. Thing is, the Genius Pen Mouse itself has been specially shaped to resemble that of a fountain pen, and it also enables you to sit back in your chair and use your leg, palm, or just about any other kind of number of unconventional surfaces, such as a mouse pad even. Heck, it does not matter if you are standing or giving presentations, you can still make use of the Pen Mouse in order to control your PC.
Not only that, the Genius Pen Mouse is far more than just a convenient mousing option, as it will also be able to assist those who have wrist problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome. How is this possible? Well, it prevents aggravating injuries which is differently from that of regular mice since it will, in no way, require use of the wrist. The Pen Mouse will also play nice with just about any surface, sporting a trio of dpi settings that can be switched between 400/800/1200 dpi to accommodate different sensitivity preferences.
The Pen Mouse will come in new carbon grey or silver colors, at $49.99 a pop.
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There is debate amongst users as to the pros and cons of a gaming mouse. Some claim there is no need for mice with such high DPI, while hardcore gamers might argue otherwise. That being said, perhaps a new debate might arise in the future as to whether we need a mouse that can levitate? As you can see in the picture above, that is a mouse that appears to be levitating. It is dubbed The Bat and it is a project by 
