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Are Vertical Mice The Next Ergonomic Trend?

Posted by Zonk on Tue Feb 07, 2006 05:58 PM
from the call-me-when-it's-good-for-fps-games dept.
Input Devices Entertainment Games
ThinSkin writes "Devoid of kookiness like many of its ergonomic counterparts, the VerticalMouse 2 is shaped like an ordinary mouse, only turned 90 degrees so that your arm is in a natural 'handshake position.' ExtremeTech's review of the VerticalMouse 2 suggests that its horsepower and familiar feel make it a worthy candidate to replace a horizontal mouse. Some of the drawbacks include its $75 price tag and difficulty to pick up in 3D gaming scenarios."
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Are Vertical Mice The Next Ergonomic Trend? 25 Comments More /

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  • On trends ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by popra (879835) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @05:59PM (#14663845)
    ... yeeesss, this 'handshake position' seems very familiar somehow.
    Seriously though, might I suggest inventing a self cleaning keyboard/mousepad.

  • A step backward (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TripMaster Monkey (862126) * on Tuesday February 07 2006, @05:59PM (#14663847)

    If you compare the design of the VerticalMouse 2 with the Quill Mouse [extremetech.com], you can see that they're virtually identical...with one important difference. The Quill Mouse is equipped with a shelf where the edge of your hand rests. The VerticalMouse 2 has no such shelf. Without a support for your hand, you'll have to support the weight of your hand by:
    • resting it in an abnormal position on top of the VerticalMouse 2, thereby completely negating the advantages of a vertically oriented mouse,
    • the use of your arm muscles, leading quickly to fatigue and muscle strain,
      or,
    • clinging to the vertical surface of the mouse with your fingers and/or thumb, again leading to fatigue and muscle strain.

    Now add to all this the discomfort the large-handed will suffer as the edge of their hands develop friction burns against their desktops.

    Any way you slice it, this product is a bad design and a non-starter. Save your money.

    • Re:A step backward (Score:5, Informative)

      by Hays (409837) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:22PM (#14664057)
      I used an evoluent vertical mouse for months. Where did I rest my hand? On the mousepad. Maybe if you have small hands this is an issue?

      As it happens, the vertical mouse didn't seem to help at all with my RSI.
    • Is it just me or am I the only person in the world who wrests their wrist on the mousepad and moves the mouse with my fingers. With this new mouse it looks like I would have to operate the mouse like a toddler and move my entire arm. The shelf design seems to only exacerbate the problem.

  • Dr. Benway perhaps? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rueger (210566) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @05:59PM (#14663848) Homepage
    A main driver for this is the desire to reduce the risk or pain associated with carpal tunnel syndrome and other RSI disorders ... The idea is to allow your arm to control the mouse in a more natural position, with the thumb up, in a hand-shaking position. Doctors who specialize in ergonomics consider this position preferable.

    I have to ask, did anyone at ExtremeTech actually talk to a doctor who specializes in such things, or were these comments lifted from an Evoluent press release?

    The reality of RSI is just so, so much more complex than these simple solutions would suggest.

    Although how can you argue with a review like this [evoluent.com]:

    Gained all the votes in terms of comfort and facility of use, of "look", colour and sympathy: the panel as a whole totally adhered to this new product.

  • Vertical not the answer (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ackthpt (218170) * on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:00PM (#14663854) Homepage Journal

    Ages ago I had a Gyration GyroMouse which totally kicked butt. With a mouse free from having to make contact with a horizontal surface, plus the fact I clicked with my thumb, rather than stressing my index finger, I found it to be a natural and easy feel. The only caveat was as the mouse remained in my palm the piezo-gyros would warm up a bit and the mouse would drift a little, but recalibration wasn't hard to do. $75 isn't an issue when you're talking about getting a superior mouse.

    Poo. I've got some real ideas on how a mouse really should work, which could allow hands to remain on the keyboard, but after seeing an idea of mine ripped right off of /. and for sale on ThinkGeek, you can guess why I won't post any of these ideas.

    and it makes toast, too!

  • The next big thing? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Andrew Aguecheek (767620) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:01PM (#14663857)
    Basically, no they're not. No more than we are ever going to drive our cars using joysticks or keyboards. People like what they're used to. This is a gimmick. Move along, nothing to see here.

  • Trackball (Score:5, Informative)

    by CastrTroy (595695) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:02PM (#14663871) Homepage
    Trackballs are the way to go. I don't know why we ever chose a mouse over a trackball. They are much easier, as you don't have to move your hand/arm all over the place. Only your fingers and thumb move. Since switching to a trackball, I have much less problems with wrist pain. Also, I find that trackballs are more accurate, and work greate for PC gaming, because you don't have to lift and reposition it every few seconds.
    • Trackballs are okay for some types of PC games, RTSs and RPGs in my experience, but for a fast paced FPS it seems just too hard to keep looking in all directions as well as aim accurately using just a thumb. In those situations a mouse gives you much finer control. You also still at some point have to reposition your thumb, when you spin the ball a full half turn.

      Now that I think about it, I suppose the sensitivity of a trackball could be adjusted so that a 'flick' of the thumb moves the player's viewpoint
    • Amen to that brother.

      My personal choice is the MS Trackball Explorer [microsoft.com]. Wonderfull design, acurate optical and very nice drivers in MS (holy buckets does mouse button control in linux blow chow). As fate would have it they got discontinued. I snapped up 3 that I plan on slowly doleing out over the years even though my current 3 (2 at home, 1 at work) work great and have for years. I looked around quite a bit before I bought the three, but found nothing that came close to it's ergonomics, and abilities. And

  • Once more with feeling: (Score:3, Funny)

    by Lispy (136512) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:06PM (#14663915) Homepage
    Get perpendiculahar [hitachigst.com]...

  • Nothing like discrimination... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jferris (908786) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:07PM (#14663921) Homepage
    $75 for the righty version. It is $105 for the lefty version. No wonder lefties are continually forced to conform to a right handed world. It was bad enough going to Catholic school, but I thought that the lefty-discrimination was over once I broke out...

  • It won't catch on... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by aardwolf64 (160070) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:11PM (#14663959) Homepage
    One of the major reasons that the standard mouse caught on is that a 2-year old child can understand the concept of reaching out and grabbing something. The traditional mouse layout mimics this behavior. This 90-degree rotated mouse is counter-intuitive to reaching out and grabbing...

    Long story short, you might like using this mouse but don't count on it ever replacing the current "horizontal" mouse for standard users.

  • ____-click? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by venomkid (624425) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:15PM (#14663993)
    So, if these take off, will we be top-clicking and bottom-clicking? Or maybe we'll renamed it index-clicking, middle-clicking and ring-clicking? Or maybe we'll just still call it left and right vestigially, sort of like the way we still click on 3.5 inch floppy icons to save files to other media...

    *boggle*

  • My experience with these mice... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Hays (409837) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:19PM (#14664034)
    I have RSI problems in my hands and forearms and elbows. Not carpal tunnel syndrome- various inflammations that never seem to completely heal. Doctors have been little use, medical science doesn't seem to have caught up with RSI.

    Anyway I tried a vertical mouse (from evoluent) for several months. Eventually I started to find it uncomfortable and switched back to a normal mouse. I never found it to make much of a difference one way or another.

    I also use a Kinesis Essential keyboard, which I've also not found to make a big difference one way or another.

  • No way (Score:3, Insightful)

    by squoozer (730327) on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:21PM (#14664046) Homepage

    I could see a tilted mouse working but full on vertical is a non-starter I think. My guess would be that vertial is to steep for the vast majority of people. Shaking hands is something that one does breifly and therefore I am willing to move my body into a less than optimal position. I don't find shaking hands particularly comfortable therefore I don't think I would find shakign hands all day with a mouse comfortable. Anyway, the big problem I see is that the mouse will tend to move away as you click. This makes sense as it has nothing to push against. A hand rest would solve that at teh expense of making the device clunky.

  • Nothing new under the sun.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by the_rajah (749499) * on Tuesday February 07 2006, @06:26PM (#14664095) Homepage
    More than a hundred years ago telegraphers discovered that a key that moved side to side instead of up and down and that allowed the hand to be vertical instead of horizontal greatly reduced the incidence of the dreaded "glass arm". There have been and still are lots of keys produced that take advantage of this. For one of the prime examples, see the productes still offered by Vibroplex. [vibroplex.com]

    73
    • Console gaming is largely 3D gaming as well. So if PC 3D gaming is going out, then so is console gaming and frankly I don't see either of those happening.

      And as far as the upgrade thing is concerned, you buy a new console every few years, why not some new hardware every few years? You don't have to have the latest and greatest always you know. Just IMO though.

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