Wireless PC Mouse Implant?
I'm new to this community, but biohacking has been a secret interest of mine for quite some time, and I have a question.
If this has been done, please send me the correct links, for searching has brought me nothing.
Is it possible, at least theoretically, to be able to implant a wireless mouse into the hand?
In theory, how this would work is that a sensor (like in a pc mouse that does not use a ball) would rest in the palm of your hand, while you could then use a small USB drive to interface wirelessly with any computer without needing to carry around a mouse. I imagine in order to get clicking functionality, small wires would stick out of your palm, and could really only be pressed if you bend your fingers a certain way (so you wouldn't click while typing).
No idea if this could happen, but if it could, I feel that this could be a wonderful step towards complete user-interface interaction.
If this has been done, please send me the correct links, for searching has brought me nothing.
Is it possible, at least theoretically, to be able to implant a wireless mouse into the hand?
In theory, how this would work is that a sensor (like in a pc mouse that does not use a ball) would rest in the palm of your hand, while you could then use a small USB drive to interface wirelessly with any computer without needing to carry around a mouse. I imagine in order to get clicking functionality, small wires would stick out of your palm, and could really only be pressed if you bend your fingers a certain way (so you wouldn't click while typing).
No idea if this could happen, but if it could, I feel that this could be a wonderful step towards complete user-interface interaction.
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If you want to use implants, though, my first thought was to embed reed sensors into a mousepad, but, unfortunately, those would only allow you to detect the presence or absence of your hand, so you couldn't do much with that.
you'd still have to carry around that usb-drive to interface.
unless there's a widely established wireless standard which does not consume tons of energy i'd put that idea on hold. it does sound like a perfect project to build a gadget (like the keyglove Saumanahaii linked). i see little benefit from implanting such a thing at the time speaking.
Everything listed is really interesting. Especially Ian and Saumanahaii's ideas.
In response to ThomasEgi, while you would indeed need to carry around a USB device, which can be just as bothersome, and there is no evidence of a wireless standard coming soon (though that would be wonderful). I feel that this type of development, if made widestream, would be just the thing to spur a necessity for a standard wireless medium.
@Ben nice toy, but still same problem. requires you to carry a gadget around.
woordup.com/assets/2012/06/idermal-by-dave-hurban.jpg
Actually the magnets underneath holding it on would probably mess with it now I think about it. I'd love to actually do something to
contribute cause I like this idea but I know literally nothing about electronics. Gotta start teaching myself
It should not be too hard to build, while being rather unuseful for me, since my magnet is in the ringfinger and I hardly use that for pointing and stuff...
I use a wireless trackpad. It may not sound as "cool" as a mouse implant, but it is much more responsive and it solves the power consumption issue by being external to the body.
Among the wireless technologies currently available, there doesn't appear to be one that has a low enough power consumption along with a long enough range to be useful.
The most power-hungry is Wi-Fi, which has a range of hundreds of meters, but requires a fairly large battery for continuous use. If such a battery were implanted, there would need to be some way to wirelessly charging it without heating it up to the point where it would cause tissue damage.
Bluetooth consumes mess power than Wi-Fi and has a range of tens of meters. This is a popular technology for powering wireless mice, but its power requirements still make the management of a subcutaneous battery problematic. It would still need to be charged wirelessly, but I doubt that the battery could be made small enough to implant in the hand.
The third technology, near-field-communication has actually been successfully used in implants, but it is only viable from a distance of a few centimeters. Also, it is designed to supply short bursts of power for exchange of limited amounts of data at a slower transmission rate than either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. For this reason, it seems highly unlikely that it would be feasible to transmit mouse movement signals in real time.
It would be great if something between NFC and Bluetooth could be developed because it would have quite a few uses beyond an implanted mouse. I believe that this is the most challenging problem you would encounter in developing an implantable mouse that works well.