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back to article Smartfish Whirl Laser Mouse

Smartfish reckons our mice, and other peripherals, don't have enough life of their own, so it has successfully produced a mouse that wobbles in the interests of reducing RSI. Smartfish Whirl Mouse Twisted thinking: the Smartfish Whirl Laser Mouse The premise of Smartfish's "Ergomotion" technology is that the static nature …

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  1. The Infamous Grouse
    Happy

    Boingggg!

    Looking at the side-on photos of this thing, I'm reminded of one of those 'sucker-n-spring' novelty toys I used to play with as a kid. It looks as though you should be able to press the top down onto the base and have it leap off the desk a couple of seconds later.

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    1. david 63
      Reply Icon

      You mean you've stopped playing with them...

      ...I haven't.

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  2. Ragarath
    WTF?

    For Gaming?

    Okay I have not used one (think its a great idea for some applications) but surely if your playing a twitch sensitive game this is going to cause problems. Some lag with be introduced, possible at random, as the mouse is moved (tilts when you don't want it to rather than moving).

    Or is the tilt so minor it does not matter?

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    1. Bill Ray (Written by Reg staff)
      Reply Icon

      Re: For Gaming?

      I'm not a big twitch gamer, so can't be sure, but I suspect there could be some lag.

      You'd probably want a different mouse for such games, though for Stronghold 2 (my current obsession) it makes for longer sessions and less tired wrists.

      Bill.

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      1. Ragarath
        Reply Icon

        RTS

        Yes I was thinking maybe RTS (if not playing overly competitively but this can be said for anything) or low twitch like World of Tanks.

        Would most probably help with long sessions on this sort of game. I wouldn't mind trying one.

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  3. Ragarath

    BTW Thanks

    Forgot to say thanks for the Stronghold 2 mention. I had not heard of this but looks like the type of game I would like.

    I have a birthday coming up soon so perfect timing.

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  4. Some Beggar
    IT Angle

    Repetitive which what?

    According to The Medical Boffins, RSI either doesn't exist at all as an ailment, or is an unhelpfully broad term for a range of different pains that may or may not be related to the workplace.

    So is there any actual science to support the medical efficacy of this gizmo?

    Which type of injuries and pains is it supposed to relieve? And how does it purport to do it? And what tests were performed to determine whether it did it or not?

    Otherwise, as the reviewer says, this is just a cheap mouse on a pivot. 70% seems overly generous for that sort of medicine wagon gimmickery.

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  5. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    If you have a laser optical mouse, then maybe you could -

    Fit squashy felt pads around the dge of your mouse, and get the same benefit. For instance, trim small pieces from a bath or kitchen sponge, the plastic kind. The mouse in my hand seems to stop working a millimetre off the desk, but it's worth a try. Should be better with a Wacom digitiser, which I don't have. The same mouse also works using a folded handowel as mouse mat, with the full benefit of fabric conditioner... unorthodox, yes, but machine-washable. But as for the gameing experience and response, I dunno.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Some Beggar

    Thus speaks someone who's never suffered from it.

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    1. Some Beggar
      Reply Icon
      Headmaster

      @AC

      Thus speaks the medical profession:

      "Repetitive strain injury remains a controversial topic. The term repetitive strain injury includes specific disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, Guyon canal syndrome, lateral epicondylitis, and tendonitis of the wrist or hand. The diagnosis is usually made on the basis of history and clinical examination. Large high-quality studies using newer imaging techniques, such as MRI and ultrasonography are few. Consequently, the role of such imaging in diagnosis of upper limb disorders remains unclear. In many cases, no specific diagnosis can be established and complaints are labelled as non-specific." The Lancet, Volume 369, Issue 9575

      I expressed no opinion one way or the other; I simply asked what research had been done to determine whether this device has any medical benefits.

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      1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Who claims?

        It's for the manufacturer to justify their assertion. Industry in general isn't above designing ridiculous junk and selling it as a disability aid or cure, often at an inflated price. An interesting consequence is that made-for-gaming hardware can be cheaper and more useful to us cripples than purpose-designed aids are.

        My own experience of RSI - not carpal tunnel, I don't know what it is really but if I use a keyboard then my forearms hurt with a burning pain for a couple of days, or if I do more then worse happens, I'm tapping this with a stylus on touchscreen and the FITALY software - my experience, I say, is that rapid frequent control actions are bad (and often unavoidable), and a device that lets you perform the same action with less effort, and in more than one way, is good. I'm not sure how this one rates, but if you can also perform fine movement by rocking INSTEAD of moving the mouse, that seems worth trying. But changing to a completely different pointing technology is liable to be better.

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    So is this...

    ...a fish with a frickin' laser beam?

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