Top 10 Interesting Mouse Designs

Written by Rolf

A mouse is an extremely simple device. But because it is used so heavily, it is of great importance that it is designed well. Looks should be inferior to functionality, and ergonomics should be equal to functionality.

No one wants an ugly, beige mouse nowadays, though, so here is my top 10 of extraordinary mouses with beauty, functionality and comfort in mind.

10. Clamshell

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This looks to be designed for travelling. I hardly travel, so the main advantage is lost on me. It is made of a silicon'ish material, so it is probably not as uncomfortable as it looks. Still, not my cup of mouse.

9. Zero Mouse

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This is a concept design by German designer Oliver Rosito, called the Zero Mouse. The only reason I included this mouse is because of its simple beauty. I can't imagine where you would house batteries or a charger and you really don't want to uglify it with a cord (I hate cordless mouses though). Furthermore, unless I am missing something, this design is highly impractical. I am used to move the mouse with my thumb and ring finger and this design has holes where I would expect support for my fingers. This is a paper weight, not a mouse.

8. JellyClick

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An inflatable mouse.. I don't know. Again, this mouse if clearly designed for travelling and saves a lot more space and weighs a lot less than the Clamshell, but I wonder how happy you will be if you need to do some hardcore mousing with this. Fun concept, though. Looks waterproof and should be pretty cheap too.

7. City and Village Mouse

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I don't know where the name comes from. I'm not a real designer so to me it makes no sense. I am also not entirely sure whether this should be #7 or #10 or even #1. At first glance I want to pick it up, fondle it and test it on my girlfriend. The colors enforce the idea that we're looking at a new Durex toy. But I don't know. This could be awfully awkward, or very very ergonomically intuitive and comfortable. It doesn't look it though, so I've ranked this as a modest #7.

6. Orbita

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Same goes for the Orbita. According to the makers, it's revolutionary and intuitive. Of course, everyone would claim that. Personally, I think the regular mouse as we know it, is the best fundamental design. You can move the Orbita like any old mouse, but the 'revolutionary' (pun) thing about it, is that you can rotate the entire thing as it were a scrollwheel. It has 1 button and 'squeeze areas' to simulate a right-click. Or something. Go to their website and check out the video. It's really quite interesting, but I severely doubt the comfort and ergonomics.

5. Tablet Mouse

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The mouse bit of this device is pretty obvious. It doesn't look very ergonomical, but that doesn't matter as it has a built-in tablet! The stylus should somehow be built-in too, in my opinion. Also I can't think of many situations where you would use this size tablet... maybe to draw doodles while bored, or perhaps to sign documents or online transactions. But for drawing and designing, you really need a life-size tablet, which this is not. Ranked 5 for its Cool factor.

4. Switch Mouse

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The designer of the Switch Mouse knows that the right hand needs a different angle than the left hand, but I'm not sure it was a good plan to have right-handed and left-handed people use the same mouse. Sure, it's a nice idea, but 99% of these mouses would be in the same tilted position for the rest of their lives, which makes this functionality kind of wasted. I like the scrollpad. The best thing about this mouse is that you can stretch it to match the size of your hand, but again, this feature will probably be used once ever.

3. Handshoe Mouse

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This mouse looks extremely comfortable. It is quite large and so perhaps you would need to use somewhat too much force to move it around. Most mouses are moved from the wrist, but this hand couch looks to be moved from the elbow instead. I am never sure if that's a good thing. I'm afraid I would lose some accuracy.

2. Moldable Mouse

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Winner of 2007's Red Dot Design Concept Award, Lite-On's Moldable Mouse, made of lightweight modelling clay and covered with a nylon and polyurethane blend fabric. The mouse buttons and scroll wheel are stick-on parts and use radio frequency.

I want one of these. Even more customizable than the Switch Mouse, this 'mouse' can be molded to exactly match your preferences. I'm sure you can even shape it into a mouse. Unlike the Switch Mouse, I expect you will be changing the form and shape of this Moldable mouse more than once in its lifetime. I think it has a huge Fun factor, if the material allows for heavy-duty claying.

1. Alien Mouse

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This thing was designed by Mizanur Rehman with ergonomics in mind. The soft gel body molds itself to its user's hand and the central core vibrates to relief stress.

No idea why it has to refer to aliens and I'm sure it's comfy and all, but damn, look at it! Even if it gave you electrical shocks and burned to the touch, I would still put it on #1.