Handshoe Mouse a Good Ergonomic Option

Way back in 2003, I reviewed the Quill Mouse, which its developer, Torbay Holdings Inc., described as the "world's first biomechanically engineered computer mouse" designed to help minimize Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

The Quill Mouse

The marquee feature of the Quill Mouse was that it was "gripless" (i.e.: it let users move the cursor without gripping the mouse), so your hand could remain relaxed while you maneuvered initiating tracking motion from your elbow and shoulder rather than your wrist and fingers. This, of course, takes some getting used to, and it is not as precise for small detail work as are fine motor movements of the hand and wrist, but it is less stressful and more comfortable once you get acclimatized.

Gripping pointing devices is potentially related to development of discomfort and even injury in computer users' necks, shoulders, arms, and hands as well as tension in deep neck muscles, leading to symptoms such as headaches radiating from the neck area, neurological tingling and/or numbness in arms and hands, reduced head mobility, and blood flow restriction.

The Quill also oriented the user's hand into the "handshake position", removing wrist twist and thereby "unwinding" the median nerve. The "handshake" position also guides the user into keeping the forearm at the same height as the mouse, with the unit's "button mound" meeting and supporting the forefinger and palm of the hand comfortably. The heel of the hand, the wrist, and the forearm rest in the channel or "wrist and arm guide", with the thumb free to float or rest on the outside of the button mound.

The Quill worked. I still have both right- and left-handed Quills, and they are extremely comfortable, low stress pointing devices to use, especially when my polyneuritis is flaring up.

You can still buy essentially the same design mouse, now renamed Aero2bic. The $99.95 Aero2bic mouse is available in both right- and left-handed versions from aerobicmouse.com.

The Handshoe Mouse

However, there's a brand new player in the "gripless" mouse category - the Handshoe Mouse Ergonomic Mouse from Hippus NV of the Netherlands. Designed by a Dutch medical university with two years of field testing and refinement, this product - like the Quill Aero2bic - can help minimize stress associated with devices that must be gripped while orienting the mousing hand and arm in more ergonomically sound posture.

Medical and ergonomic specialists at Holland's Erasmus University Medical Centre used electromyogram (EMG) technology to measure the muscle activity of hand and fingers when mousing. They found that relaxation in neck, shoulders, arms, and hands can be realized by reducing force exerted during mouse manipulation.

Introduced to the North American market last fall, the Hippus Handshoe Mouse's marketing focus is centered on the 25% of the computer-using workforce estimated to be suffering some degree of RSI symptoms.

With a shape that reminds me of a Manta Ray fish, this is a large mouse that will require a generously-sized mouse pad - with gaming pads like the SteelSeries SteelPad units I use being an ideal choice.

While the Handshoe Mouse design shares conceptual commonalities with the older Quill/Aero2bic design, it is also different in a number of ways, with a lower-profile, a not as vertically-oriented button mound, and a contoured thumb rest area on the back side of the mound.

In form factor the Handshoe is wider than the Quill/Aero2bic, but not as long. On both products, your hand rests entirely in a contoured channel on the top of the mouse, with no friction from contact with the mousing surface.

There is also no need to use fingertips for pressing the mouse buttons - small exertion of finger pressure from the big joint where it meets the hand is sufficient for button clicking. Button action is a nice compromise between low effort and positive feedback, while the scroll wheel can be operated with the inside of the middle or index finger. Scroll wheel action is detented, which falls short of the excellence one finds in the weighted scroll wheels of some Logitech mice whose detents can be enabled or disabled to allow freewheeling (the latter being my personal preference in most instances).

Because the Handshoe Mouse is designed to fit your hand like a glove, it must be able to accommodate different hand sizes and comes in both left- and right-hand versions. There are are six different variations offered, with hand sizes (left and right) corresponding to hands measured from the tip of the ring finger to the wrist crease in large (210 mm or 8.25"), medium (190 mm or 7.5"), and small sizes (170 mm or 6.75"). Left-hand sizes are manufactured on demand and cost up to four times the price of right-hand versions. When ordering a Handshoe Mouse, it's recommended that you measure your hand according to instructions posted on the Hippus and reseller Websites and order the appropriate size. The largest-size Handshoe Mouse also has a third button with the same function as the switch function of the scroll wheel, but the small and medium sizes don't have room to accommodate this third button.

Handshoe Mouse mice are available in both wireless and corded versions. I tested only corded models, which is what I prefer in mice for their greater precision and positive connection interface, especially large units like these that are less likely to be taken on the road with a laptop, although they do come with nice fleece drawstring carry-bags.

Despite their size, the Handshoe Mouse is commendably light in weight, and according to Hippus' Canadian distributor it can even be rendered slightly lighter, if desired, by removing metal and plastic ballast weights housed in the mouse enclosure. The weights, located in the outer chamber of the underside, are specifically included by default to allow the user to reduce the weight of the mouse for users (of which I'm one) who prefer lighter weight mice, The medium sized Handshoe Mouse models we tested weighs about 210 grams in standard weighted trim.

I tested a standard optical tracking sensor Handshoe Mouse in optional red livery and a black example of Hippus' new BlueRay Track model - both of them medium sized models. The BlueRay Track model unit, with its BlueRay Track Engine, is based on a double lens optical system in combination with a blue LED and a specific light frequency that supports a far higher definition of the underlying surface, resulting in a higher accuracy on a broader range of surfaces and tangibly better in pointing precision and "feel". I found it works on almost any surface without a mouse pad. For example, it tracks perfectly on glass and with acceptable precision even on my trouser-leg or a blanket.

"This new cutting edge BlueRay Track technology will take the Handshoe Mouse forward in a different league, where ergonomic and technological claims can be proven and supported by research and field reports," says Hippus' Chief Technical Officer, Dr. Ing. Paul Helder. Certainly in testing the laser and BlueRay Handshoe Mouse models back-to-back, the BlueRay unit has a definite precision edge, although the laser model is no slouch either. The BlueRay Track models are also expected to be especially attractive to serious gamers, who require extremely high definition.

Both models are pretty much identical in form-factor, although the BlueRay Track unit does incorporate some evolutionary improvements in addition to the more sophisticated sensor technology, such as the size of its glide pads, which provide roughly three times the total contact area of the standard Handshoe Mouse's pads, making for significantly smoother and lower-effort tracking, although both are comfortably low-effort units. The scroll wheel detents on the BlueRay Track Handshoe Mouse also had a better feel, but that might've just been a production variation.

The Handshoe Mouse is plug and play, with no special drivers for Mac or PC needed, and some Low End Mac users will be gratified to hear that OS 9 is supported. While these mice are not inexpensive and I think the scroll wheel action could be improved, the designers have achieved their objective in creating a comfortable, low-stress pointing device. If you suffer from mousing pain, they should prove well worth the price.

Low End Mac rating: 3.5 out of 4.

Dimensions

• Large: 5.375" W x 7.25" D
• Medium: 4.875" W x 6.625" D
• Small: 4.5" W x 5.875" D

Hand sizes:

• Large: 8.25" or 210 mm
• Medium: 7.5" or 190 mm
• Small: 6.75" or 170 mm

Weight (both wired and wireless)

• Large: 250 g
• Medium: 200 g
• Small: 120 g

Buttons

• 2 for small and medium
• 3 for large

Connection specs.:

• USB 1.1 (compatible with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0)
• Separate USB connection on the Handshoe Mouse
• Battery wireless version is charged with USB cable

Controls:

• Two buttons at ergonomic position plus scroll wheel
• Scroll wheel Fitted with switch

Control mechanism

• Standard: 800 dpi
• BlueRay Track: 1000 dpi

Wireless Version Specs:

• Poll rate (Hertz) of the electronics is 113~118 Hz and up to 120 Hz.
• Wireless range of the receiver is 10 m
• Receiver / dongle is fitted with a LED light which goes on and off when operating the mouse.
• The wireless Handshoe Mouse uses a lithium ion battery which can only be removed by professional service providers.
• Battery life is around 2 years.
• Operating time for the wireless version is around 4 weeks.
• Charging of the wireless version takes around 3 hours.
• Charging takes place by means of USB cable; The PC or laptop needs to be switched on during charging.

One can continue working while charging the battery; the micro receiver/dongle must be in place.

Warranty: 2 years

Operating systems supported:

• Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X
• Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, XP or Vista
• Unix

Current US price: USB, $99, wireless, $119; BlueRay (USB), $109, wireless, $129

In Canada, the Handshoe Mouse currently sells for C$110 (USB) and C$130 (cordless). The BlueRay sells for C$120 (USB) and C$140 (cordless)

Get a free download of the research presentation of Erasmus University.

Handshoe Mouse is available in the US from:

Ergo Works, Inc.

420 Olive Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94306

http://www.askergoworks.com/category/1/Ergonomic+Keyboards+and+Mice.aspx?Brand=988

Tel: +1 650-322-9775

Fax: +1 650-322-9770

In Canada:

Micwil Group of Companies

Ergonomics Portal: ErgoCanada.com

102 Wheeler Street

Saskatoon, SK S7P 0A9

Canada

http://tinyurl.com/yfsj7m6

Tel: (306) 382-5995,

Fax: (306) 382-4995

Toll Free: (866) 335-3746 (ERGO)