Scrolling through page after page of text on a computer screen is one of those tedious activities that has ensured the paperless office remains a dream. One of the reasons why people prefer to print documents out is because repeated pointing and clicking with a mouse, or turning a finger wheel, can cause repetitive strain injury, particularly as most people always use the same hand to operate a mouse.
Now, Kenneth Hinckley at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington (US patent application 2004/141009) suggests placing a pressure-sensitive strip down each side of a PC keyboard. Moving a finger slowly up or down the strip moves the page up or down. Tapping the bottom end of the strip makes the screen display jump down a full page, like turning the page of a book, and tapping the top makes the display go back a page. Having a strip on each side allows people to swap hands regularly or use both strips together, one for scrolling, say, and one for tapping. The strips can be built into new keyboards or bought as add-ons, with wired or Wi-Fi connections.
Meanwhile, inventor Michael Faeth of Fresno, California, is patenting a mouse system that shares the work between both hands (US 2004/140954). The mouse is effectively split in two, one half for pointing and one for clicking. Right-handed people will put the pointing half to the right of the keyboard, and the click unit on the left; left-handers will do the reverse.
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Lou Horvath and Jacob and Nelson Blish, all of Rochester, New York, are taking hand and wrist protection a stage further by moving the action to your feet (US 2004/140951). Their system makes using a computer more like driving, and replaces the mouse with a pair of foot pedals. Rocking one pedal back and forth controls the vertical position of the screen cursor while the other pedal controls the horizontal. Clicking is done by pressing down. So a 鈥渞ight mouse click鈥� becomes 鈥渞ight foot kick鈥�. There is no mention of whether it causes ankle strain injury though.
