Lite-On's Moldable Mouse takes whatever shape you want

Finally, a mouse just for you. Thanks to the folks at Lite-On, you'll never have to suffer the debilitating discomfort of an unshapely mouse ever again. The Moldable Mouse will make all your bad memories of ill-fitting input devices float away, using a lightweight modeling clay combined with a nylon and polyurethane fabric to make up its surface. Once you're palming your new best friend, you can shape its contours to whatever form you desire, though we're pretty sure making a perfect cube will present a challenge. The "stick-on" buttons and scroll-wheel can be added to any location you like, and communicate via RFID. The thing won a Red Dot design award and everything... but coming soon? Probably not.

[Via Wired]

[Flashpoint @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:04AM]

This is F***NG COOL !

I'll take 5

[w00t @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:10AM]

Sounds like a great idea!
Anyone who's ever had to use an apple mouse will agree, I'm sure!

Remember the hockey puck? :D

[mrsalty @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:17AM]

It will either lose it's shape pretty quickly after you mold it the first time like those old Mr. Stretch dolls or you would only be able to mold it once and some sort of chemical reaction like and epoxy putty kneading would cause it to become hard. So, this is great in concept put pretty stupid in reality. Most important, think about it...this thing would be the heaviest mouse ever!!!!

[Carbonize @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:18AM]

"Once you're palming your new best friend"

What you get up to in your spare time is your business :|

I love the examples they give because everyone in the world can sculpt(?) with that level of perfection.

[Karl Viklund @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:29AM]

People will do funny stuff with this thing... mouse...

[Flashpoint @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:31AM]

Kinda worries me what someone would scult actually.

You can't give anyone clay without them eventually making two clay people have sex. Sooner or later, someone is going to sculpt their mouse like a female orifice so they can "double click" it, [American Pie]

[Tim @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:33AM]

Does it vibrate?

Cause if it vibrates I will buy two.

[Flashpoint @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:34AM]

And the stick on buttons communicate via RFID...

so what's to stop someone from making a doll out of the clay and placing the buttons in "private areas" and then molesting it?

[Mark @ Feb 2nd 2008 2:32PM]

well... nothing... why would you want to prevent that? :)

[Ricardo @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:34AM]

RFID? Isn't that a passive technology? Does that mean the mouse is constantly querying the buttons for their status? It's actually pretty ingenious, since no wires/batteries are needed.

[Mike @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:26AM]

Anyone try tracing this back to the original story?

[via Wired] -> [via Make] -> [via core77] -> [via dvice] -> [via Techpin] -> [via Red Dot]

All the portals are nice I guess, at least for the people who are still alive.

[Abuzar @ Feb 2nd 2008 3:34PM]

Another Portal reference? It's alright, it was done well.

[Mickey Jones @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:10AM]

Where's my cake?

[neeravagl @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:50AM]

will my hands stink of dirty clay ....
and can i bake my mouse ... if i want to make the shape permanent

[Dave C @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:55AM]

Just what I need, a mouse bent on destroying John Connor.

[Wwhat @ Feb 2nd 2008 12:51PM]

I'm guessing they release these concepts for patent purposes then?

[kojo87 @ Feb 2nd 2008 1:00PM]

i predict many blue, penis shaped mice in the future

[Steffen Jobbs @ Feb 2nd 2008 4:46PM]

Tits or buttocks. I think they have good intentions, but the idea seems a little wacky. Usually my hand gets used to whatever mouse is available. I think the Mac hockey puck really stunk but I did get used to it after while.

I have a couple of different types of Logitech mice that I enjoy using. I find them really comfortable to use.

[techieguru16 @ Feb 2nd 2008 5:06PM]

pretty lame

[Silverfrog @ Feb 2nd 2008 5:41PM]

One guess as to how these will look after, say, 6 months of use. I don't know about you, but most things that are malleable, and are touched by human hands normally end up brown and oily looking from all the bodily "stuff" that ends up on them.

[Wwhat @ Feb 2nd 2008 6:02PM]

Apple can produce them, then you are expected to discard it after 5 month and won't have that issue.

[figmentPez @ Feb 2nd 2008 6:12PM]

I say skip the clay, and wait for cheap 3D printers to reach the home market. Design your own mouse, or download someone else's design, print out the shape, snap it onto the base (with optical sensor, batteries, etc) and then then place the buttons. Completely custom mouse.

Heck, if you could scan someone's hand in 3D, they could put their hand in the position that they want to mouse in, and then a program could automatically configure a mouse around that orientation.

[Sabrina @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:32PM]

mmm, palming.

girls don't palm, but whatever. still looks hot.

[kombizz @ Feb 3rd 2008 3:33AM]

Sounds like a great idea!
I KNOW what I am going to make out of it !

[giftgadgetgateway @ Feb 5th 2008 8:59AM]

This thing is amazing. Is there any button to press so that it will go back to its original shape? It would be even lovely to have the buttons be placed at anywhere I like.

http://giftgadgetgateway.com