Computer mice to perform a disappearing act?

Have you ever wondered what technology might one day replace the Computer Mouse? If so, researchers at MIT may have your answer: Nothing! According to Wired.com, "In a magic trick that only geeks can pull off, researchers at MIT have found a method to let users click and scroll exactly the same way they would with a computer mouse, without the device actually being there."

They have appropriately named this new technology "Mouseless". It makes use of an infrared laser and camera to track your hand and finger movements that it then translates into computer commands. According to Microsoft User Experience Architect Daniel Wigdor, "Like many other projects in the past, including the Nintendo Power Glove and the Fingerworks iGesture Pad, this attempts to see how we can use new technology to control old technology. It’s just an intermediate step to where we want to be."

Despite the popularity of newer natural user interface technologies such as Voice Recognition and Multi-touch, the two-button mouse still remains the primary input method used on computers today. How much will this technology cost? According to Pranav Mistry, Project Lead for Mouseless, "A working prototype of the Mouseless system costs approximately $20 to build." Mistry previously developed the "Sixth Sense" project, a Minority Report-like wearable computer interface that lets users wave their hands in front of them in order to interact with maps and other virtual objects.