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Computer: Mouse Pad
Air hockey mouse pad   (+1)  [vote for, against]
Smoothist mouse pad ever

It really P*sses me off when you can't control your mouse properly because there is to much friction between it and the surface it is touching.

This can be solved by buying a mouse pad with a smooth surface, however this sometimes just doesn't cut the mustard.

I suggest we take a plastic surface with tiny holes covering it, air jets will sit underneath this suface blasting air through the wholes causeing a small amount of lift (like an air hockey table which I am sure every one here has played. If you haven't WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN.) This will allow you just to glide your mouse across the pad.

Plus you could play a good game of air hockey when waiting for software to load up.

The pad could be powered by batteries or pluged into the mains.
-- magic_ki, Mar 08 2004

Original MouseFan http://metku.net/in...ttaflekti/index_eng
Mod that started the whole line of mice and gamepads with fans in them. [japala, Oct 04 2004]

BreezePad http://metku.net/in...breezepad/index_eng
Half way there? Perhaps not enough power to lift the mouse but sure keeps your hand cool. [japala, Oct 04 2004]

Shirley this would need a USB power supply...
-- ghillie, Mar 08 2004


?
-- magic_ki, Mar 08 2004


You would need some high-end compressor powering this thing at all times to support the weight of your hand. And what about when you take your hand off the mouse? You'd spend more time taming the crazy flying mouse than getting work done.
-- Letsbuildafort, Mar 08 2004


I like it. Just put little (short) walls around the pad, as on an air-hockey table, to keep the mouse from flying away when you're not using it. Would probably have to be an optical mouse; ball mice need some friction.
-- Etymon, Mar 08 2004


It should come with a little puck. Instead of those boring click buttons on the mouse you bounce the puck against switches along the boundary of the pad. Not sure if this would make the mouse work more efficient, but it would be more entertaining.
-- kbecker, Mar 08 2004


//And what about... crazy flying mouse// If a thin little hockey puck can stay on the table, surely a mouse (which is heavier than a puck) could. Excellent idea.
-- spacecadet, Mar 08 2004


One. It would cost more than an optical mouse which is a more efficient and cheaper solution. Two. You would have to plug in your mouse mat, which takes more power and more money.
-- Deadlock'd, Mar 09 2004


//If a thin little hockey puck can stay on the table, surely a mouse (which is heavier than a puck) could//

But the amount of power used to keep a "thin little hockey puck" above the surface of the table is much less than an optical mouse - which is where you have it backwards. The mouse weighs more - thus, it hits the table, and becomes a conventional mouse. Then add the weight of your hand, finger, or telekinesis on top of THAT. Just seems to be an imperfect science of balancing weight, air pressure and power all in one 7"x 7" mat.
-- Letsbuildafort, Mar 09 2004


I suppose the clever way to stop the mouse drifting around the mat when you stop using it is to remove it from the pad.

Have you ever played air hockey letsbuildafort?
-- magic_ki, Mar 09 2004


Sure have, and I don't take the puck off when I'm not playing.
-- Letsbuildafort, Mar 09 2004


maybe you don't have to worry about completely levitating the mouse. Maybe the air flow will be enough to reduce friction and allow for the tiny adjustments you're looking for.

If you're resting the entire weight of your hand on your mouse, you're holding it wrong and inviting carpal tunnel syndrome.
-- Freefall, Mar 09 2004


Well, also understand that we have different working postures for using mice, and that you have to exude at least a LITTLE bit of pressure on the mouse to operate the buttons too. Jeez, I hate trackballs. <shakes fist>
-- Letsbuildafort, Mar 09 2004


When you use the bat in air hockey you are exerting a large amount of downward pressure on the table, so my mouse pad should be capable of with standing the small amount of pressure exerted from your wrist.
-- magic_ki, Mar 10 2004


Your mouse is supposed to act like the puck on the air hockey table, not the bat. You don't put pressure on the puck, and the bat works by sliding it, EXACTLY LIKE A NORMAL MOUSE!!
-- Deadlock'd, Mar 11 2004


Can this come with an air hockey simulator game? solitair is boring.
-- krod, Mar 11 2004


This will not be for the silent pc lovers. Even the mousepad will be hissing with air, and the compure will need an aircompressor to attach the mousepad to...
-- nietsch, Mar 11 2004


A Teflon mat, and a Teflon mouse bottom on an optical mouse would acomplish the same goal, methinks. I was thinking the mouse as the air hockey PUCK and not the bat. The bat just has a low-friction coating on the bottom of it. Air does very little to assist in reducing friction for the bat. But the puck on the other hand ...
-- Letsbuildafort, Mar 11 2004


How about a thumb operated button on the mouse which switches it into "fine" mode when you need really close control? That way you can have you cake and eat it too. Without all the crumbs being blown in your face by your mousepad.
-- gabe, Mar 11 2004


Yes [krod] I would have it no other way.
-- magic_ki, Mar 11 2004


So your suggesting that we blow freezing cold air into our hands while we work? I'm dissapointed in you, Ki, your Jippo remover was more useful.
-- Deadlock'd, Mar 15 2004



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