A Different Kind Of Mouse

Tech writers on the STC Lone Writer SIG listserv were talking recently about input devices they use to alleviate, or to attempt to outright avoid, repetitive stress injuries in their wrists and hands.

I’ve been using the AirO₂bic mouse at work and at home for several years and love it. Its general design is on the order of a mouse turned on its side. It still has scroll wheel and two buttons, with the top button acting like the left button on traditional mice devices and the bottom button acting like the right. It features a hand rest that comfortably cradles your hand while you work.

The product design is based on the premise that the “handshake position” is more natural to human physiology than the “pronated position” (palm down) that is needed with traditional mice devices. In a pronated position, muscles are tensed when the wrist is turned to allow the hand to use a traditional mouse, and those muscles remain tensed for the entire time that the wrist is held in that position. This persistent tension constricts blood vessels, affecting blood flow into muscles. Over time, an injury occurs due to an “accumulation of damage to tissue cells that do not get a chance to heal and repair because we go back and repeat the same process day in and day out.”

I had no difficulty adjusting to the mouse, and within the first few minutes was working just as quickly with it as I had with a traditional mouse — if not moreso. However, nearly every co-worker who has sat at my computer has had great difficulty adjusting to it. The exceptions have been gamers and pilots…presumably because of their existing comfort levels with joysticks.

The AirO₂bic mouse sells online for $99.95. You also can get their Virtually Hands-Free Mousing System, which includes the mouse and either the Nib (PC) or McNib (Mac) software, for $149.95. They have a network of resellers around the globe to support international orders.

I can honestly say the device is worth every penny.