Once upon a time, a computer was a big metal brick of a thing that sat on or next to your desk. Now, it’s possible to fit decent computing power into a board the size of a stick of gum. [Electo] took advantage of this to build an entire computer into a mouse form factor.
[Electo] had tried this before years ago, and built something pretty sloppy. This time, he wanted to build a version that had an actually-legible screen and fit better in the hand. He whipped up a giant 3D-printed mouse housing, and fitted the sensor board from an optical mouse inside. That was hooked up to an Intel NUC PC that fits inside the housing. A small LCD screen was then installed on a rack system that lets it pop out the front of the mouse. Data entry is via a laser keyboard mounted in the side of the mouse.
Of course, being based on an Intel NUC means the thing was the size of a couple of phonebooks. That’s not really a mouse. Starting again, he reworked the build around a tiny palm-sized computer running Windows 11. It was stripped out of its case and wedged into a compact 3D-printed housing only slightly larger than a typical mouse. It has a keyboard of a sort – really it’s just an array of buttons covering W, A, S, D, and a couple others for playing simple games. Amazingly, it’ll even run Minecraft or Fortnight if you really want to try and squint at that tiny screen.
Having a computer with a screen that moves every time you move the mouse isn’t ideal. At the same time, it’s fun to see someone explore a fun (and silly) form factor. It’s interesting to see how the project works compared to the original version from a few years ago. Video after the break.
This would be better served with a wireless HDMI setup than a tiny screen like that.
Wireless HDMI would allow you to use a small screen or a 4K TV — whatever was handy at the time.
I’m old and eyesight is going, there was a time when the screen size wouldnt have bothered me — I used to carry a Sony UX180 back in the day on my belt for remote access.
I think that is the wrong approach – instead you should have a big virtual desktop, seeing only the part around the cursor – if you then move the mouse, the screen moves with it, such that your whole desk is an invisible screen with the display being a kind of window to look at it :D
That is a pretty funny idea. I think you’d need some kind of absolute positioning system though, or way way better relative positioning than a regular mouse.
How about a desktop display that doubles as mouse pad? Put the LCD panel down flat on the desk, connect it to the mouse, and set the tracking so the cursor matches the mouse itself.
The problem with that is that it would need to know where your eyes are, relative to the screen.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but I also like the idea of wireless video to a bigger screen.
I’m thinking maybe I’ll pull the innards out of a tiny swagbag USB mouse I have and cram that plus the innards from a stick PC computer like this into the housing of a cheapo mouse, if I can find one that’s large enough.
What about using one of those tiny laser projectors originally designed for smartphones, that way one could dispense with extra hardware and have a more or less monolithic device (either projecting the screen onto the desk or an adjacent wall) not sure how useable it would be though.
This is actually a very fun concept. I like the tiny mouse version for it’s practicality. But I also like the big mouse simply because it’s hilarious. Ahhh… we live in wonderful times. I can’t wait to see what’s next, a computer in a joystick, that would be awesome.
Twenty years ago…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Joystick_Controller_TV_Video_Game_System
Also 20 years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQue_Player
Is it possible to take power from a USB-C and send video down the same connection?
(And do any screens accept video on USB-C? Now I think about it the laptop docks at work might include a graphics card)
Some do, I got a screen here at the office that does charging and video by the same single USB-C connector.
Some have also USB and ethernet ports, replacing a docking station
Yeah, I’ve got one of those on my desk, it’s handy to leave plugged into all the accessories (keyboard, mouse, screens, speakers, etc.) and just plug the laptop into it. I’ve got a smaller one in my laptop bag for if I need to plug into a random screen on the go.
I am amazed I haven’t seen this form factor with a Raspberry Pi already 😆.
Need to investigate this board. (Still waiting for hackers to make a DIY mobile Ryzen motherboard so you can build a Ryzen system in a SBC form factor by scavenging old Chromebook chips)
Not exactly what you’re looking for, but Framework sells individual Ryzen mainboards that can be used as a SBC pretty easily.
Probably cheaper/smaller to use a SteamDeck Mobo.
I didn’t finish the video. After he trashed his $1200 internal PC, I lost interest. If he were a real builder, he’d be in nearly $3k for this build. No longer interested
I completely fail to see any practicality in it. So I conclude that it’s meant for fun, and wil make some fun of it. :)
Are you sure it’s a mouse and not a turtle? I don’t see any tail. Does it have mouse graphics or turtle graphics?
M-I-C… (See what I did there?)
K-E-Y… (Why, because I could!)
The mouse is a PC!
What was the “tiny palm-sized computer”, I wasted a lot of time scrolling through the video to try to find a name/model/brand given, but saw no mention at all. I’d be interested in knowing if there are now x86 SBCs, given it can run Win 11 one guesses it must be x86, not ARM, and therefore able to run a normal Linux distro with normal Linux pre-compiled software and Wine exe software, rather than being limited to specialised ARM compiled Operating Systems the way a Pi is. Thanks
Not exactly the same thing, but a SteamDeck motherboard should work a treat.
But you did open the video, right? That’s all that matters.
It seems to be some kind of Intel based 2.4″ cube PC, there are various models using J41xx or N4100 processors, such as GMK NucBox, Chuwi LarkBo,x XCY X51, Skynew M1T.
i really want to see it set up where that ridiculous little display is only a viewport showing maybe 10-30% of the full “screen” at any one time, and the mouse cursor is fixed at the center of that viewport, and the viewport moves around with the mouse. so it look like a window to another plane of thought.
It almost physically hurts that he is at least 4 revisions in and has yet to design vents for the system he is killing inside the casing. Pretty much top of my list after having so many Dells melt on me. Pro Tip from the NUCDeck creator: replace the HDMI ports with FPC connectors. Just need a hot air station (~$30) and some flux. Then you can use ribbon cable to connect HDMI.
Now that is a good hack! 1963, computers were rather large. Mouse were close to hand-sized. 2024, computers can be really tiny like Pi Zero. Mouse is still about hand-sized. Imagine if we could take the computer mouse with actual computer inside back to 1964 and show them to the team that worked with the first mouse?