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Has Anyone Tried the Quill Mouse?

Posted by Cliff on from the unusual-hardware-designs dept.

Anonymous Coward asks: "Has anyone at Slashdot has heard of or used the Quill Mouse? It's an odd shaped mouse that's supposed to reduce repetitive stress injuries like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome." Rather than grabbing and moving the Quill mouse with your hands, you rest your hand in the Quill's "nook" and move the entire assembly with your arms. Since the palm of your hand is facing inward, you can then click the buttons which have been rotated to match the "nook". The web page says this hand position is less likely to cause RSI than the position a standard mouse requires. Anyone with (or who have used) a Quill Mouse care to comment?

2 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Gorilla Arm by Boglin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I wish this firm the best of luck, I believe there is a flaw in their system. I remember somewhere about one of the reasons why the touch screen failed (is still not in common use) is that it, like the Quill, relied on the muscles of the upper arm to move the hand around the screen to click (technically touch) the controls. Well, the muscles of the upper armed are designed to provide great force, as opposed to accuracy. The end result was that peoples upper arm got tired far more quickly than the wrist would, and people felt like they had "gorilla arm".

    Now, I have not used this product, nor will I ever; a childhood injury prevents my wrists from rotating in the way necessary to use their mice. Therefore, they may have a perfectly reasonible way of handling the moevments. I'm just worried about their blanket assumption that the shoulder is superior tot he wrist.

  2. Change Hands by keynet · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Some years ago I worked in a really bad setup that caused pain all along the upper arm and through the shoulders and neck. I had to shift the mouse to the left hand because I almost literally could not use my right hand for the task. Not only did the pain go from the right arm, but it has never, after 6 years, appeared in my left arm.

    I suspect the reason is that my right arm, being dominant, applies too much force for the task, which then requires counterforce from other muscles top control the fine movements needed for the mouse, resulting in unrelkeased tenmsions through the whole muscle group. Meanwhile the non-dominant left arm just gets on with the job. It takes about a day to reprogram your hand for the buttons and then forget it. Better still, work smarter, use the keyboard shortcuts wherever possible.