Evo Mouse & Leap Motion

Think about all the things that you do with your hands on a daily basis. You drive, hold your coffee cup, shake someone’s hand, wash your body, type, eat, the list goes on and on. Well here are 2 more things that you can do with them...

The humble computer mouse was invented way back in 1964 and was called an ‘X position indicator for a display system’. Catchy right? The actual term 'mouse' was coined due to the fact that it resembled the tiny little creature.  It was a one click device that was made out of wood…how far we’ve come.

Say hello to the EVO Mouse where any surface becomes your mouse. There’s no more fear of carpel tunnel syndrome with this little guy because you don’t move it around, click it in fact you don’t even touch it. You sit it down next to your computer and you let your fingers do the walking.

It’s a really clever device that uses sensors on the front of it to track your finger movements and transfers them to actions that a normal mouse would do. So in other words, you move left, the mouse moves left, you double click, the mouse double clicks, you can even zoom in and out.  You’re basically turning any flat surface into a touch pad.

The next device is called the 'Leap Motion Controller' and this will have your hands waving, poking and swaying in mid air as you control various elements on your computer.

Basically the The Leap Motion Controller is a motion-sensor for your computer and tracks your hands in a 3D space. Place it in front of your computer, and the area above it becomes the space that you use to interact with your computer .

It’s compatible with both Mac & Window’s PC and works using a piece of software called ‘Airspace’. Here you can find apps made specifically for the Leap Motion and you’ll find old favourites like Google Maps & Cut The Rope that have been made leap-compatible.

My final thoughts…firstly the Evo Mouse. ts clunky, not as responsive as I'd like it to be and as I'm a mac user, it doesn't support multi-gestures and with it being close onto a thousand bucks you can buy a really nice wireless mouse or track pad. The Leap Motion controller...it's cool but my arms get tired having to hold them up high for ages and for R1299, it's still more of a toy than anything else for now. As more apps get developed for it though, I'm sure that it'll become a force to be reckoned with! 

Look at the end of the day these 2 gadgets are really very clever and who knows where they'll take us and our hands...