Microsoft multitouch mouse prototypes in action (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Oct 7th 2009 4:52PM
posted Oct 7th 2009 4:52PM
This week the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) went down in British Columbia, and among all the pointing and the clicking the gang from Engadget Japanese were on hand to take a closer look at those wild and wooly multitouch mouse prototypes that Microsoft Research has been working on. Apparently Orb's hemispheric touch sensor supports a healthy helping of gestures (just the thing for point-and-shoot gaming), while Arty and FTIR certainly seem to know when you're clicking something. These are just prototypes, of course, but the video provides a fun look at some of the things you might soon see integrated into your computing experience. Peep for yourself after the break.
[Via Engadget Japanese]
[Via Engadget Japanese]
See more video at our hub!
Ive had my own multi-touch mouse since day one....hum hum ladies?
*crickets*
But are you old enough to drink Corona?
Corona with lime, good choice!
only girls put fruit in their beer...
yeah mouse is about right. so cute and tiny.
Microsoft does yesterday's technology really well.
I prefer touchscreens or touchpads to mice nowadays. Some laptops have touchpads which totally destroy any mouse in functionality.
I am not referring to Apple exclusively, BTW, but Snow Leopard does have the very, very good gesture support. Pinching, twisting, 2-4 finger swipes. It's quite cool.
@Gibson: And this marries the two together, giving all the gestures and such of a trackpad with the speed and accuracy of a mouse.
Except you lose some of that speed and accuracy because you can't reliably use our fingers to control the mouse without activating the touch sensor....
@Gibson
I'm enjoying my native multi-touchscreen support on Windows 7. I know, it's old and all the other OS's do it but... oh wait...
Gibson: Microsoft released XP Tablet edition in 2002. Isn't Apple supposed to release something like this soon? They're approaching 8 years late... JS
Damn, Orb looks pretty sweet. Looks like it can almost remove the need for a keyboard when it comes to gaming, and without sacrificing precision or speed.
Not sure how you are getting speed... from looking at the videos it looks like it's rather lag filled input.
This seems good. I'm sure they'll get better.
A definite learning curve but sounds like a good idea.
I'm sure the Corona and margarita added a lot to the fun
Bleh...Corona isn't very good. I suggest they manipulate their digits around a multi-touch Bohemia.
Busch Light FTW
@Annoying Poster
Hey, hard to beat a 30 pack for $13.99!
A 30 pack of 8 oz bottles, you mean...
Even bud has more flavor than corona. It's chick beer.
Staying Mexican, I'll go Pacifico or Negra Modelo, or even Dos Equis Amber.
a) What's wrong with capacitive multi-touch, you know the tech we have already, which works, and is in thousands of devices, and must be just as flexible as resistive was... although I'm not sure what bending a resistive membrane actually does to it.
b) Haha, Dell XPS has a tiny trackpad so I can see why they went out of their way to cobble a mouse together out of a video camera and a perspex table reservation stand.
c) Apple mouse, now, please!
"c) Apple mouse, now, please!"
Just disable the right side of the multi-touch mouse.
Phil,
Obviously you're waiting for your omnipotent leader Steve Jobs to tell you what is good and bad, but, what is being demonstrated here is new Mouse technology, not Multi touch screen technology.
Microsoft managed multitouch with Surface, and again with Second Light. However, multi-touch is not the answer to everything. Can you imagine navigating a 1st person shooter with just a multi-touch screen? Or editing a spreadsheet?
The mouse isn't going to go away anytime soon, so companies like Microsoft may aswell start to think about the next thing.
Would you rather they demonstrated that on a laptop with a bigger trackpad? How does that change the demo at all?
The next time Apple demonstrate publicly their prototypes ... oh wait.
apple mice suck. period.
dont ever try to compare them to a microsoft or logitech laser gaming mouse, they just pathetically fail.
or even any other logimouse. I had a mighty mouse for years, then I got sick and tired of cleaning out my scroll ball. I got a VX nano right when the darkfield mice came out and saved $40. Lovin' much more than the PoS I got cuz it was an easy check box when I bought the computer.
News flash:
Apple mice aren't made for gaming!
(seeing as OS X hardly has any console games)
Brian - they are still awful regardless. Everyone at work uses either a Microsoft or Logitech mouse while the Apple mice sit on the shelf in the IT department.
@Brian
Newsflash: Apple mice aren't made for anything except the bin.
As someone who owned a "Mighty Mouse" (shamefully, I might add in retrospect) I agree with AP's statement completely. It was the most completely atrotious (sp) piece of crap mouse I ever owned. The concept of one "big button" working with two sides is stupid, the cord is way too short, and it was a waste of it's over-priced cost.
I have since purchased a MUCH cheeper logitech (simple corded laser mouse with two buttons and a wheel) and have been MUCH happier.
Agreed!
The mighty mouse sucks ballz... Sadly I own one. Now, I wouldn't get mad at apple for making a crappie mouse... It works alright for normal use, I used it an entire summer editing videos. Also, we all know that apple sucks hardcore for gaming. Not the computers necessarily, but the operating system. Games run slower in OSX on the same computer compared to when they've booted up in Windows. What annoys the hell out of me is that logitech and Microsoft don't make drivers available for OSX. Everybody hates the mighty mouse, everybody seems to be using logitech mice on their macs, but logitech doesn't write drivers for mac... Steermouse works well, but it keeps quitting on me, necessitating a relaunch.
Also, for gaming... in my opinion physical buttons are a must. even mice still "click", don't they? I don't think i could ever use a mouse that doesn't... trackpads are different for some reason, and I still use the click on the trackpad about 50% of the time.
I think your deluded, I have used many of microsofts and logitechs poor mouse efforts over the years, they are pretty poor.
I don't see why these comments always end up having to compare MS & Apple but when it comes to traditional mouse offerings, the Mighty Mouse is the superior device, hand down, no argument, finito.
This particular multi-touch device looks awfully complicated to remember what your doing, I think in practice many people will simply find it too bewildering to use or simply so alien to what people are used to, they won't want to persevere with it.
Reminds me of that awful bent microsoft spilt keyboard monstrosity, hahaha.
However, I hear Apple are releasing some new mouse soon too, since they come up with the best idea's for user simplicity, like the gesturing pinch in & out, two finger swipe to scroll etc, perhaps this will show everyone how it should be done and everyone can benefit when the third parties jump on and copy it.
I am sure this will be addresses, but I wonder how much impact would that have on carpal tunnel. Looks like a lot of small-range repetiive movements are made - specially around on the wrist. I love my vertical mouse.
thats exactly what i was going to point out. this all looks interesting in all but im not so sure it will do any wonders for my hand. mighty mouse destroyed my wrist at work so i got my own mouse and has lasted a good time but now even that mouse is slowly starting to hurt my wrist. gdamn mice!!
Great concepts, That orb mouse seems pretty cool, Doesn't seems to be better than the mouse/keyboard combo but it opens the gate for new types of games perhaps?.
Seem like we will have to learn new navigation mechanics after all these years of clicking and moving...
after couple of hourse your fingers are gona fall off...
i mean hours*
How any one could think the over priced Apple mice are better than windows versions i will never know. But again the Borg/Apple collective think that less for more money is the correct way of thinking! As Borg/Apple once said "We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own and charge you more money for it"
Whats wrong with the one i'm using now?
nice to know they'll be mac compatible, upper left hand corner macbook/ pro?
Most Microsoft peripherals do work on Mac...
There are always a handful that don't have full compatibility, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that these jewels of mice would be included.
Just double their price and they will be mac compatible
Saitek already putting on Preorder on several retailers in Europe the New Saitek Eclipse touch mouse, Bluetooth , check German retailer like Amazon or alternate.at
some interesting ideas. definitely useful in the gaming world. but i'm not sure how well such things will translate to every day use. something more akin to the wacom line with multitouch as well as pen recognition might be better in that regards.
as for the apple cracks, there is a right button even on the mighty mouse. there just isn't the crack in the outer shell to show it. but it is there if you want to use it. so before you snark, know the facts.
Microsoft use to do this dirty trick all the time and it looks like their at it again. They try to undermine someone else's product announcement with some vaporware. First time I remember this was with some company that came up with the first ever pen based computer in the 90s. On the same day, Microsoft made a press release to show their own pen features which did eventually ended up becoming the Tablet PC but it was totally vaporware at the time. Needless to say, they killed that Pen OS before it ever got out.
The thing is that Microsoft Research is working on so many ideas but they have no sense how to make any product consumers would want. A perfect example is Surface. Apple announced the iPhone which was really the first consumer multi-touch device. Microsoft looked into their Research division and low-and-behold, some random researcher was working on a multi-touch table. So they tried to make some hype around that.
Recently they're really at it again. I think Courier is the same thing. Apple Tablet hype is really increasing and Microsoft needs a way to undermine it. So they do the same, thing...anyone in Research doing anything? Well there's this project (that Engadget digged up), Codex...let's rename that and make some cool video presentations and make it look really amazing.
It's exactly the same with these multi-touch mice. Rumors are pointing to an imminent Apple multi-touch mouse. Any coincidence that Microsoft is showing off their Research mice exactly at the same time as these rumors?
The last mouse was a fantastic setup. Same ol' mouse shape, hopefully still had real clicking (gotta have that click) but to be able to rub the button to scroll would be fantastic, let alone all the other gestures that would be possible by simply making the mouse buttons touchpads.
They've still got to be buttons... I don't want to lift a finger to click, it's simply too much stress. I also don't like the "just push harder" setup that some touch systems use. There needs to be physical motion and a physical click.
coronas in canada?! ewww on so many different levels
Michael Jackson (the beer one, not the King of Pop one) rated Corona as the worst beer on the planet.
Good. Now you won't need to think for yourself.