3D Mouse

Cambridge Consultants have created a squeeze-ball type concept that would help computer users navigate their user interface in multiple dimensions. The Suma was designed to take advantage of trends like 3D displays and augmented reality. By squeezing the ball, the user would be able to control a PC or gaming system in different ways that the more simple systems like a standard mouse would offer.

The press release reads:

A Suma-based device is like a traditional gaming controller with the normal casework replaced by a ‘Suma skin’. This incorporates the proprietary Suma sensor network at an incremental parts cost of less than US$1. Suma will enable companies developing a wide variety of products and applications – from gaming and design to music and creative arts – to unleash the full capabilities of both the human hand and the user’s imagination.

“Our hands are extraordinary instruments for control and communication,” explains Duncan Smith, head of Consumer Product Development at Cambridge Consultants. “One of our earliest instincts as babies is to grip and grasp, and about a quarter of the motor cortex of the human brain is devoted to the muscles of the hand. Yet current input devices for computers and games do not fully exploit these capabilities. Although gesture-based control is a huge step, even this does not convey the subtlety and flexibility of what our hands can do. By capturing that complexity, Suma enables product developers in a range of industries to greatly enhance the experience of their users, adding multidimensional interaction to both existing and new applications.”

Cambridge Consultants

[via Engadget]