Kokuyo's USB mouse with pointless laser

Good Lorf, another unwanted bastard of convergence: the Laser Pointer Mouse from Kokuyo. While Kokuyo's wireless laser mouse pointy thing was at least palatable and potentially useful, how the hell are you going to benefit from a laser pointer tethered to a laptop in the conference room? Come to think of it, we guess it works for the type of timid forest creatures who like to present while seated. The mouse features an 800dpi optical sensor with a 1mW, class-2 laser which can keep it together over a distance of about 25-meters. Hits Japan December 27th for about ¥4,500 or right around $38.

[Via Impress]

[Michael @ Dec 22nd 2006 9:41AM]

Is it just me or does that picture make the mouse seem abnormally large.

[Lectoid @ Dec 22nd 2006 9:42AM]

Lorf? Didn't that even set off the spell checker? I'm not a spelling Nazi by far, but I know how you guys love for us to point out frivolous mistakes.

[MS @ Dec 22nd 2006 9:44AM]

Looks like a decent tool for use in a training room. Run a program on PC, control with mouse, point to screen to show off the good bits.

Not pointles at all.

[Jeff @ Dec 22nd 2006 9:58AM]

Number 2: Dr. Evil, this is the latest wireless human interface product developed by our company, Kokuoyo.

Dr. Evil: Does it come with laser?

Number 2: Of course...

Dr. Evil: (with pinky up) fuuuuhhahahahahahhahaha

[Nando @ Dec 22nd 2006 10:22AM]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! What a dumb idea!

I mean, if it was the Wiimote with a laser beam, that would be kind of cool!!!! lol

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 22nd 2006 10:40AM]

Think LAN parties! Can't frag your friend? Blind them.

[kaztm @ Dec 22nd 2006 10:43AM]

Check the title and main paragraph -- the brand name should be "Kokuyo" unless this article is intended for Real Fake thing.

[jalapeno @ Dec 22nd 2006 10:44AM]

Too bad you can't use this to zap your co-workers

[CritSafetyBoy @ Dec 22nd 2006 10:49AM]

I guess one idea is that it doesn't have a battery that can die on you in the middle of a presentation.

Michael: Yes, it does look large, but I think that is a combination of their choice of a petite female hand-model with the way she is holding it, not blocking the product from view.

[Travis @ Dec 22nd 2006 10:52AM]

I agree with MS, in our conference room this would work pretty slick, do something on screen and lift the mouse up a little bit to point around. The beauty of a laser is that you don't have to run around the room to point it and so the tether argument is moot.

[Vince D @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:29AM]

Who the heck needs it? My 2-year old Gyration Mouse does the same thing better, if you make your pointer big enough to see.

[Matt @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:20AM]

this gives a whole new meaning to laser mouse.

[Travis @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:37AM]

All of this is assuming someone desperately wants to use a laser for pointing to things on the screen. That being the case this mouse would work nicely.

[kaztm @ Dec 22nd 2006 12:14PM]

"All of this is assuming someone desperately wants to use a laser for pointing to things on the screen. That being the case this mouse would work nicely."

Exactly!

As you can read from Kokuyo's press release, this mouse is intended primarily for interactive, internal meetings where a group of people gather in a moderate-sized room (up to 25m diameter).

In a meeting where many if not all of the attendees will need a laser pointer (but not technically savvy enough to leverage network-enabled electronic whiteboards), this mouse will free you from having to bring a separate laser pointer which you may not always need.

Kokuyo says in the press release that they made it corded so that you won't run out of battery, and of course, the optical scanner at the bottom of the mouse uses invisible infrared so that your colleagues won't be disturbed or distracted when you are using this mouse as a laser pointer.

So cheers to you, Travis, but another boo for Engadget.
Why do you Engadget want to change into a tabloid that instinctively criticizes gadgets, rather than to welcome the births of new gadgets and stimulate constructive discussions?

[KazO @ Dec 22nd 2006 12:23PM]

This would probably be a boon to the typical users I support, who are deathly afraid of 'advanced' things like cordless pointing devices, or otherwise anything that doesn't look like a mouse circa 1995.

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 22nd 2006 12:59PM]

Take that, wall behind my monitor!

Peeoo peeoo peeoo!

And the novelty wears off.

[Barry @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:41PM]

Some of us have cats, you know. A laser should come standard with all mice.

[Bigg Ben @ Dec 22nd 2006 2:26PM]

I think a laser beam on a gyroscopic mouse would be very useful.

[uhsf @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:19PM]

This is the closest thing to a USB powered laser pointer. Despite all the USB crap that's offered nowadays, nobody has ever though of making a simple laser pointer.