Comments on: Ergonomic vertical mouse

By: Quigley

Quigley — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 01:58:18 +0000

I saw this hack and for some reason I just had to do it. The only problem was I didn’t have an old VCR or any metalworking tools, etc. so I used the next best thing – Legos of course. I just pulled the scroll wheel out of a cheap wireless mouse and rigged it up to an axle with some gears and a Lego wheel on it. Not quite as fancy looking as a big metal wheel but it gets the job done.

By: michael

michael — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:06:24 +0000

i built one ! :)
yeah i was realy bord this easter ewwkend and my dad had just bought a new mouse, so i ripped appart the old vcr ect and made a sneaky computer mouse. i would post pics but hack a day wont let me :( anyway its pretty cool more of a conversation pice than a functional pice of hardware. i moustly use it for scrolling through word documents or music. anyway i like it great hack !

By: Dns

Dns — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 06:46:07 +0000

Its so amazimg but, did it realy work on a pc and is this enought comfortable for the hands????

By: Eliot Phillips

Eliot Phillips — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 19:33:33 +0000

The check box for portable audio is right under peripherals. I should just save some time and file everything as misc.

By: GrayMatter

GrayMatter — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 16:23:48 +0000

Sweet. I love the aesthetics as well. I just ordered some shapelock after seeing this and then remembered exactly how much half a kilo is…

By: webmaster at tinylittlelife

webmaster at tinylittlelife — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:54:06 +0000

Thanks to all for your comments!

Blahananas – There weren’t any sharp edges on this VCR head, I guess I lucked out.

stukkm – I spin the wheel with either my thumb or middle finger. I’ll see what I can do about a video.

mike m – You have the right idea, but with this mouse I rest my elbow on the table, not my wrist. So, I haven’t really lost any of the finger control (put your hand vertically to the right of your mouse, not on it).

cash – You’re right, the extra weight is there and I certainly wouldn’t try using this for games.

shotgun – I sure hope this shapelock holds up… Plan B is to use plumber’s putty.

rombus – I’ve updated the page to say so, but the reason I didn’t use the Radio Shack switches as they were is because they didn’t click and had very stiff springs. They also moved a lot further before making contact. In short, higher finger strain and no tactile feedback.

jpaturzo – Once again, seriously, thank you for the inspiration on this project.

By: kwijibo

kwijibo — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:50:31 +0000

why is this under portable audio hacks? surely peripherals would make more sense…

By: atrain

atrain — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 07:57:34 +0000

cool hack!

BTW: Nyud is switching to port 8080.

By: Flamsmark

Flamsmark — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 07:23:23 +0000

and what are computers if not nifty sci-fi dodads?

By: confused

confused — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 04:24:19 +0000

looks really nifty yet retardedly hard to use

By: jpaturzo

jpaturzo — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:51:18 +0000

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=86820

Thats my original bit-tech how to if anyone is interested. It’s amazing the stuff you come up with when unemployed.

And its pretty impressive people dig these things, once you get used to the giant scroll wheel, it gets addictive. I can scroll through 60 pages of Matlab code faster than hell.

By: Paragraph

Paragraph — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:43:52 +0000

hrrrm, well usually things with words like ‘ergonomic’ tend to be more of a hassle to use then traditional things. There are loads of commerical devices like this (none quite as interesting however :-P).

Personally, I think until we get to hand gestures and other forms of tracking with lasers and nifty sci-fi dodads will we really be ‘ergonomic’.

Anyways: I love the giant scroll wheel, it give it more of dial feel (because it is one, but thats besides the point) and I like that. I might rape my broken VCR and run with the idea, i have a nice little wireless optical mouse to play with :D

By: ROMBUS

ROMBUS — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:24:17 +0000

anyone else think the guy took alot of unnecessary steps with wiring in the switches? Essentially, he took 2 perfectly good switches, and made one shitty looking switch. Couldn

By: alan

alan — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:11:22 +0000

Has a nice look to it, kind of industrial and a bit dangerous!

By: shotgun

shotgun — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 22:55:52 +0000

Interesting hack. Looks like Shapelock is just good old “Friendly Plastic”.

Didn’t think they made that anymore. I loved that stuff when I was a kid, though I’ve heard it doesn’t hold up (though my personal experience would suggest otherwise).