Download the press using the game controller, or 8 unusual patents for input devices

MIT students turned bananas into piano keys .



Of course, you know that an invention must be patented in order to secure its rights to it. Then, if someone wants to use your idea, and it shoots, you can make money on it simply because the idea of ​​creating it came to you earlier. It would seem that everything is extremely serious, and only ingenious inventions should appear in the patent lists that can turn the world around and put humanity on a new stage of development? Not at all. Take a look at the US patent base: you will find many funny inventions there. Some of them we will consider today.

Video game controller using abdominal muscles

If you have ever been reproached for spending a lot of time at a computer or set-top box and not watching your physical form, you know what to show these people. You no longer need to press the buttons, in the third round, fighting computer monsters - now you need to press the press. The creator of the controller, Gregory Uejara, assures that passing games using his device not only increases the physical fitness and athleticism of the player, but also helps to cope with back pain - a common office syndrome.







In general, and do not think now to look askance at the gamer that he spent all night on passing a new toy: he will soon be able to boast of all eight press cubes. It is good that Thor from Avengers: Final did not know about this invention, otherwise such a wonderful joke would not have turned out.

Spherical keyboard with integrated mouse

How much time do you spend on the keyboard? It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a physical or on-screen keyboard: in both cases, the position of our hands remains unnatural when used, which, when working for a long time at the keyboard, leads to unpleasant and painful sensations in the wrists and fingers.



This problem prompted Robert Rakoski to create a spherical keyboard. This is a sphere with key cavities, which are placed in arched rows and correspond to the positions and different lengths of the fingers of a human hand. The keys are located in the standard keyboard format, and the mouse buttons are in the front of the sphere, which rests on a circular base equipped with a mouse wheel. The on-screen pointer moves by sliding the sphere and base on the desktop.





When using a spherical keyboard, fingers and hands are in the anatomically correct position: no additional devices, such as a wrist rest, are needed. Not only spheres in the depths of which it is supposed to see their future, but also computer inventions can be magical. And it’s okay that the invention looks completely unusual: there were times when the wheel embarrassed people.

Mouse ring

Accessories for accessories - discord. The idea of ​​turning a computer mouse into a ring and placing it on your finger may seem absurd at first glance, but upon closer examination, this invention is quite useful, especially if you often make presentations and you need not only to be away from the screen , but also be able to manage objects on it.







Caution: addiction and refusal to use a conventional mouse is possible. None of us want to repeat the fate of Gollum, right?

Data entry footpad

If you are tired of working with your hands, this is a good alternative. The panel has many foot buttons, each of which is responsible for its data values ​​depending on the duration and sequence of pressing. Everything is provided for: a heel stand can be either a simple stand or a button, and a small controller and automatic speech, sound or visual display systems allow you to switch between input fields and track data when they change. Think for yourself if we are assured that by constantly using the thumb to type messages from a smartphone, we pump it up, what effect can be achieved using this panel? And already complete with a game controller from the very beginning of the list ... forget about the gym.

Keyboard hand

If you ever experienced that during an important conversation an unnecessary word will slip off the tip of your tongue, then here’s a small update: now you can release words from your fingertips.







It's all about pressure sensors that attach to the fingers and respond to pressing them with their tips on the table surface. Ideally, all fingers should be used, but one - at least. As a rule, the sensors are not attached directly to the hands (no chips need to be implanted, which is a pity), but are installed in a flexible fabric glove. The signal relay device transmits information from the sensors to a computer, which determines the position of the fingers on the surface of the table to create a keyboard, mouse or graphic tablet. The rest is yours.

Sensitive mouse chair

Have you ever tried to teach your grandmother how to use a computer? So, to despair after a few hours and decide that not everyone is given computer control? No matter how.







Even your chair can control a computer, especially if it is a sensitive mouse chair, the back or seat of which is covered by sensors that determine your position in the chair, weight offset and other parameters. Signals of pressure or pressure distribution by you on the back or seat of the chair are processed, and you again control the computer, although in a slightly unusual form.

Self-cooling mouse

An ingenious invention in its simplicity. This computer mouse has holes in its body through which air is blown with a fan or pump and cools your hand. Useful if you sometimes have to get so nervous at the computer that your palms sweat.

Keyboard with variable height keys

The smaller the device, the better. So argued the creators of the keyboard with a variable height keys for portable electronic devices. At the base of the keyboard, they placed a sensing element that generates a magnetic signal when the lid of the laptop falls. The micropump is turned on, which extracts gas from the elastomeric chamber of the key block: the elastomer undergoes a compressed deformation and the cap of the key moves down - the height of the keyboard decreases. If you lift the lid of the laptop, the process repeats exactly the opposite: the keys on the keyboard are enlarged for more convenient working with them.



This is only a small part of the interesting finds that can be found in the lists of patented inventions. They can be anything you like - ingenious, funny, or frankly stupid - but they are all definitely worth it to say a few words about them.