A Computer Mouse Breaks New Ground

Working with a mouse for many years can cause pain in the hands, arms and in the neck and shoulders. Scientists at the medical universities of Rotterdam and Maastricht have therefore developed a new mouse called 'HandshoeMouse'. But what can this mouse do that others can't?


The mouse – invented as early as the 1960s at the Stanford Research Institute in California – revolutionised the operation of computers. Moving towards and selecting functions, texts and files on the monitor became easy, intuitive and comfortable. It is just that the mouse itself is not comfortable to use: in order to control it, millions of very small movements are necessary with a posture of the hand and fingers which often leads to pain in the long term. These complaints have been proven to be the cause of many work accidents and have a special name: RSI, also known as computer or mouse arm.

Muscular tension in the fingers
With the aim of developing a mouse that is as healthy as possible, scientists at the medical universities of Rotterdam and Maastricht measured muscular tension in the hands and arms of mouse users and analysed control behaviour over a period of 4 years. They discovered that the test subjects build up unnecessarily strong muscular tension, even when they are not moving the mouse. Project Leader Prof. Dr. Snijders explains: 'It immediately became clear to us that this is an important part of RSI problems. For the tension in the fingers also directly affects the muscle groups in the neck and shoulders.' So a solution needed to be found as to how to work with the least possible muscular tension in the fingers and which would make it impossible to cling onto the mouse. Snijders explains the design of the Hippus mouse as follows: 'We put the whole hand– i.e. also the ball of the thumb – on the mouse in a relaxed fashion.' Another advantage is, according to Snijders, the control. It occurs in combination with the forearm and – to carry out small movements – with the wrist. That provides additional relief to the affected muscles.

Three sizes and three colours
For the ergonomic design to work, the size of the mouse must be tailored to the hand. That is why the HandshoeMouse comes in three sizes: small, medium and large. But the mouse is not just comfortable - it is also nice to look at thanks to its special shape. It comes in three different colours to suit all tastes: snow-white, transparent and jet-black. It runs perfectly without drivers on Windows, Apple and Linux and can be used as soon as it has been plugged into any USB port. It has an optical scanning of 800dpi, two ergonomically designed buttons and a scroll wheel.

Available for EUR 120 from: www.handshoemouse.com

Please note: the wireless version of the HandshoeMouse will be available from the end of 2008.