Do you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome? Would you like a cool levitating mouse on your desk? If you answered yes to either or both these questions we may have found the perfect mouse just for you. It’s a MagLev mouse called the BAT designed by Vadim Kibardin of Kibardin Design. However, the mouse isn’t in production as yet, its status is “testing period and research market”.
Kibardin Design has designed this new MagLev mouse with an eye on a quite common medical problem for computer industry workers; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The design overview page notes that the product is intended to be helpful “to prevent and treat the contemporary disease Carpal tunnel syndrome (Median nerve dysfunction / entrapment). Мany active computer users can be prone to this ailment.” CTS can be serious as well as simply painful, it can cause muscle damage and immobility in the hands and fingers.
The product photos show this intriguing product from a number of angles but it would have been better to see a video of it in practical use. In addition some kind of medical expert opinion would be welcome to endorse the product rather than just a designer saying it will ease your CTS discomfort. However it’s good to see a design company working on something more purposeful than its usual output of iPhone protective cases.
The BAT MagLev mouse levitates at 40mm high without any external pressure, with 1Kg of downward force it will remain 10mm from its levitation platform. It is powered by an 18V AC adaptor and the combined base and mouse weigh in at a substantial 2Kg, you won’t want to be packing this combo in your laptop bag with your Ultrabook for international jet-setting... The BAT is made from ABS plastic and will be available in black or white. No price indication or availability timescale is indicated on the project design page, though manufacturing facilities do seem to be lined up in China and the Netherlands.
I’d like one as a desk ornament, if I had a desk that anyone actually ever saw except for me. However for practical or even for CTS sufferers perhaps the upcoming motion tracking options may be better choices than this.
