It aint mouse no more, its a horse !
2005-03-08 05:26:18
We all know that day after day use of a mouse can cause repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel and even tennis elbow. Now research has confirmed that neck and back injuries can develop from prolonged use of a traditional mouse. Many designs have been introduced over the years to relieve this strain but none have really worked. Enter the “Horse”;Design of a computer mouse called “Horse”
The use of a conventional computer mouse requires continuous lifting of the fingers. This results in excessive use of extensor muscles to avoid unwanted switching which can be seen as a possible cause of tension in the deep neck muscles. It was therefore decided to design a mouse that does not provoke extensor muscle activity.
This new concept is called Horse in view of its functional design: the palm of the hand as well as the middle three fingers "sit" on the main body while thumb and little finger rest at a lower level at the side as if supported by stirrups. Thumb and little finger work together to realize optimal control in the horizontal (X-Y) plane. The design of the Horse allows for the three middle fingers to adopt a flexed position to relax the tendons. A major part of these fingers rests in a more or less vertical position.