Backball chair lets you mouse by the seat of your pants
While we can't quite picture it improving your Counterstrike game very much, the design-minded folks at Interaction Architecture seem to think that this so-called "Backball" chair of theirs can do its small part to improve human-computer interaction nonetheless. Basically a giant trackball that you sit on, the chair is apparently specifically intended for use in public spaces like airports, although we're sure there's a least a few folks out there that'd ditch their non-trackball ball chair for one of these if they were available to the general public -- which, as you might have guessed, they aren't.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
blackfeather @ Aug 6th 2008 2:36PM
Who painted Mork's chair orange?
blackfeather @ Aug 6th 2008 2:38PM
nevermind... it's not a hollow egg on the other side like I thought.
a @ Aug 6th 2008 2:37PM
"Is that a giant trackball under your ass, or are you just happy to see me?"
Corwin @ Aug 6th 2008 7:57PM
There's nothing funny about hemerroids........
focuspuller @ Aug 6th 2008 2:37PM
"Who are you?"
"The new number 2!"
feffrey @ Aug 6th 2008 2:47PM
Personally that looks more like one of the rovers with a new paint job
(insert rover scream here)
phanbouy @ Aug 6th 2008 2:48PM
rover scream here
KEROLiUKAS @ Aug 6th 2008 2:38PM
So wtf? you gotta move your ass around?
Reader @ Aug 6th 2008 3:18PM
Ass Ass Revolution!
Chuckles McGee @ Aug 6th 2008 9:06PM
I smell a new Wii Sports game in the making.
Derwin @ Aug 6th 2008 2:39PM
In Soviet Russia, the blending, Doom-playing overlords welcome you.
fieldcar @ Aug 6th 2008 2:44PM
wow, your avatar is amazing!
Joe @ Aug 6th 2008 2:40PM
Needs force feedback!
Stevo @ Aug 6th 2008 3:13PM
perv.
BigD145 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:46PM
My butt hurts and I'm not even gay.
phanbouy fan fan @ Aug 6th 2008 2:41PM
10 points to anyone who can make sense of the hyperlinked "article"
aquatsr @ Aug 6th 2008 3:00PM
Click on the links at the top. There's one named "Backball"
y3k.nik @ Aug 6th 2008 2:43PM
I cant even use an exercise ball without falling of one, how do they want me to sit down on a giant ball and then move around without falling off?
Evan @ Aug 6th 2008 2:43PM
Someone call Leo.
EricLMcCormick @ Aug 6th 2008 2:49PM
Want!
I am one of those people that lean into racing games and I could so see this chair being implimented into games like those... you know you do it too.
phanbouy @ Aug 6th 2008 2:51PM
yeah that's all well and good until you make a hard left and go face first on your hardwood floor
egloskerry @ Aug 6th 2008 2:56PM
This combines the two American pastimes of being lazy and sitting at a computer. Cleaning the pearls that the ball glides on is gonna be nasty, though.
kjb434 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:02PM
I would hate to see the joystick these people come up with! OUCH!
Unless that's your think, then ride on.
h0rk @ Aug 6th 2008 3:14PM
when men use this it will be so gay - reason: balls will be touching
Reader @ Aug 6th 2008 3:19PM
Ah the virtues of pants and boxers.
phanbouy @ Aug 6th 2008 3:20PM
or boxer briefs if you need that right combo of support and freedom
M.Samba @ Aug 6th 2008 3:18PM
Alright this has got to be some kind of joke, I mean it's a giant orange ball that you have to move with your butt and it's intended for public use? Someone, Somewhere is probably laughing really hard right now.
Derwin @ Aug 6th 2008 3:22PM
I would hate to see the joystick version.
austin @ Aug 6th 2008 4:23PM
sorry, you fail by 20 minutes
Derwin @ Aug 6th 2008 4:34PM
I concede defeat on that one.
Mag Li @ Aug 6th 2008 3:29PM
The gang at Google office would love those I'll bet. They practically all sit on those huge exercise balls anyway.
bob sakamano @ Aug 6th 2008 3:30PM
hey, at least its not the blueball chair
cnr1993 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:33PM
Reminds me of happy fun ball from SNL, DO NOT LOOK AT HAPPY FUN BALL!
siv_art @ Aug 6th 2008 3:54PM
"Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball..."
(One of my favorite SNL commercials)
also, "Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin."
~Trav
Knives_Out @ Aug 6th 2008 3:37PM
you lazy americans need so many things to sit your a$$ down on ...
phanbouy @ Aug 6th 2008 3:41PM
obligatory that's what she said
allston232 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:42PM
with a ball like that, who needs a boyfriend/girlfriend anymore??!!
interaction-architecture @ Aug 6th 2008 3:42PM
1) This thing worked quite well at the CeBit and nobody fellt down.
2) It was adjusted to small movements so you did not have to shake your ass to much. But we can change that...
3) We used it in public !!
4) We thought about a "Joy-Stick"... certainly not for use in public.
5) I would love to give it force-feedback - good idea.
D W @ Aug 6th 2008 4:08PM
Things have been around for years...
http://www.amazon.com/FitBall-Exercise-Ball-Chair-Choice/dp/B000CQG1ZA
And if any of you had a back problem, you'd be glad someone thought of it, because they work really well for exercising lower back muscles.
SugarDaddy @ Aug 6th 2008 3:48PM
Hrm. I thought this was going to be a ball that you sit on that helps your posture while at the desk. That whole 'backball' name seemed to hint that for me. Instead, it's something completely wortheless. Awesome... :-/
interaction-architecture @ Aug 6th 2008 4:05PM
actually it does help improving your posture while at the desk..
and some people who work with handicapped persons liked it because these persons need something more stabil than a mouse to control the cursor.. so it is not completely worthless I think
and also when you think about how many mouses aer stolen during the Cebit.. try to steel this
phanbouy @ Aug 6th 2008 4:33PM
you guys aren't into correct spelling so much, huh?
konshuss @ Aug 6th 2008 4:19PM
sit on it and spin.
JDGATX @ Aug 6th 2008 4:46PM
No, thanks. I have already taken to controlling my mouse with my ass flaps. It's not as difficult as it sounds, and you certainly don't need some new fangled chair to make it happen.
John Doe @ Aug 6th 2008 6:03PM
Looked like the ad of discover card at the first glance to me
McFly @ Aug 6th 2008 8:55PM
could be cool for a ski game..