Mouse Uses RFID Instead of Batteries

ValourX writes "NewsForge (part of OSTG, like Slashdot) has a review of a mouse that is powered by RFID (and yes, it works with Linux). It's cordless and uses no batteries -- you just have to keep the mouse within 2 inches of the mousepad for it to work. What else could be powered by RFID?"

Comments

Difference between this and digitzer pad...

[toybuilder]

...is that the mouse is responsible for position information, not the pad... Which is nice in some ways, because you mouse motion in real-world use doesn't always map nicely to the digitizing pad's cartesian grid.

If your entire desk's surface was one big induction loop, this would allow you to have this mouse work over the whole of your desk (assuming there's enough power coupling). Beware the magnetic media, though! :)

Optical Mice with Pad

[ebooher]

I've seen a couple posts where people have said "Hey, the first optical mouse let me throw away the pad." and have just got to drop a quick note here.

I have several optical mice that *need* their pad, as it has a grid for the optics to read as you draw the mouse across it. So it took them awhile to figure out how to get the optical mouse to work with no pad. Just as it will take them awhile to figure out how to give the entire population of the Earth cancer by using Inductive style power beamed from satellites to power those mice.