Get a load of this hover-tastic wireless computer mouse by KIBARDINDESIGN, which is purportedly in the "testing period and research market" stage of development. According to the design studio's website, the mouse — product designation: "The Bat" — levitates at a height of 40 millimeters on its own, or 10mm beneath the weight of your 1000g (~2.2-pound) hand. The whole setup comprises a base/bat-pad and a floating left-/right-click mouse conjoined with a magnetic ring. Also there's a scroll wheel. I guess we'll still need those where we're going.
This unholy chimera of pseudo-futuristic and unaccountably retro tech is ostensibly designed to relieve pressure on the median nerve of the wrist, which the studio claims will prevent and treat the numbness, tingling, and muscle damage of the hand that's characteristic of repetitive use injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.
Now, is the Bat actually therapeutically useful in this regard? Unknown. We haven't tried one. Come to think of it, we kind of doubt anyone else has, either. Here's a better question: does the "Bat" even exist? Because to us it looks a little like someone took a Microsoft Arc Mouse, fixed it to a plastic ring, and added a few aesthetic details with the help of some carefully applied modeling clay and a couple coats of Krylon.
Microsoft Arc Mouse:
KIBARDINDESIGN's Bat:
But let's give KIBARDINDESIGN the benefit of the doubt and assume this is, in fact, a real mouse that is actually undergoing active testing and ask perhaps the biggest question of them all: the age of the mouse may be over, but is the age of the levitating mouse at an end, as well? Before it even had a chance to begin?
I mean, yeah. Probably. Still — if this thing's real — it's a goddamn hovermouse. And that's got to count for something in this day and age, right?