Mouseless – The Invisible Computer Mouse [Video]

Does anyone here remember the “Mechanical Mouse” (along with a mandatory mouse pad) that used to be an integral part of any computer that came 10 years back? Yes, I’m talking about the one that had a rubber or metal ball on its underside and mechanical sensors within the mouse, which detected the direction in which the ball was moving and moved the pointer on the screen in the same direction. Then came the “Optical Mouse” (you don’t need a mouse pad) and the “Wireless Mouse” (aka Cordless Mouse), which are not physically connected to the computer. They rely on infrared, radio waves or even bluetooth to communicate with the computer. And just when we thought that the “evolution of computer mouse” was over here we have the next generation –  Mouseless!

Mouseless is an invisible working computer mouse built by MIT PhD student, Pranav Mistry. The mouse, or lack thereof, is controlled by using your hand with no hardware to control the pointer on your screen. This technology would allow for a wide range of interactions between the user and their computer, the ability to wake the computer from sleep, control volume, brightness, and of course gaming, to name a few applications. So get ready to relive your favorite moments from a sci-fi movie; with Mouseless, now you can control your computer using your fingertips, literally.

The Mouseless is like a mouse without a real mouse sitting on your desk. You just simply move your hand on the desk. The technology is unbelievably simple though — it uses Infrared camera to capture your hand movements and translate them into computer commands. A video clip is included below showing the Mouseless invisible mouse in action.

Invisible Computer Mouse, Mouseless – Control Your Computer Using Your Finger Tips

Thus the Mouseless invention removes the requirement of having a physical mouse altogether but still provides the intuitive interaction of a physical mouse that we are familiar with. Mouseless consists of an Infrared (IR) laser beam (with line cap) and an Infrared camera. Both IR laser and IR camera are embedded in the computer. The laser beam module is modified with a line cap and placed such that it creates a plane of IR laser just above the surface the computer sits on.

Currently, there is no plan to bring this system to the market. But Mistry easily lets you know its business secret, telling you that you could build one of these invisible mouse by yourself for as little as $20.