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Game Boy condom concept helps you level up
Just like the iCade, this is one of those "just for fun" ideas that actually seems to make a great deal of commercial sense. Think about it, Nintendo has sold bajillions of handheld consoles in its time, and it keeps churning out sequels that mean even newer followers are familiar with such classics as Donkey Shlong. And Mario's mushroom-related growth spurts? Marketing gold! So why not capitalize on all that brand awareness with this selection of cheerfully colored condom cases? Designed by Ben Marsh and Julia Roach, they aim to "create a desire to purchase the product for aesthetic reasons," and quite frankly, they do succeed. This certainly puts a whole new spin on the idea of power-ups, though.
Microsoft multitouch mouse prototypes in action (video)
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.%Gallery-74960%[Via Engadget Japanese]
Microsoft Research shows off multitouch mouse prototypes
Rather odd timing, given some recent developments in the Apple camp, but Microsoft Research has just surfaced some of its incredibly wild multitouch mouse prototypes. Each one uses a different touch detection method, and at first glance all five seem to fly in the face of regular ergonomics. The craziest two are probably "Arty," which has two articulated arms to cradle your thumb and index finger, with each pad housing its own optical sensor for mission-critical pinching gestures, and "Side Mouse" which is button free and actually detects finger touches in the table immediately in front of the palm rest. Of course, there's plenty of crazy in the FTIR, Orb Mouse and Cap Mouse (pictured), which rely on an internal camera, orb-housed IR camera and capacitive detection, respectively. Of course, there's no word on when these might actually see the light of day, but it should be quite obvious that Apple's not the only game in town thinking about this stuff. Check out the utterly enlightening video of these things in action after the break. %Gallery-74670%
