By Andrew Liszewski

My desk seems to be plagued by a constant turf war between my mouse, keyboard and Wacom tablet who are constantly battling it out for real estate. But could the Combimouse finally bring peace to my desktop? It takes the idea of the split ergonomic keyboard one step further by allowing the right side to double as a mouse, so in theory you never have to take your fingers off the keys.

When your hands are poised in a standard typing stance the right side operates like a regular keyboard, but when you hold it like you would a mouse, you end up touching a contact switch on the side which automatically changes it to ‘mouse mode’. So not only can it be used to move the cursor, but the I, O, J, K, L and < keys become your mouse buttons. But don't get excited about ordering one just yet. It seems the Combimouse is still in the prototype stages at this point, though successful usability tests have been carried out by Wichita State University, so it just might make it to the market some day.

[ Combimouse ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

Weird was the word people used when referring to the ergonomic keyboard, back in those days when they first appeared. And, if you think about it, it’s understandable, as they looked different from any other keyboard that was available in the market.

Weird is the word I am tempted to use when looking at the keyboard above, which doesn’t look familiar to me, even if I have had the chance to see all sorts of unusual products so far. It is called the Combimouse and is a combination between a keyboard and a mouse. As you can see for yourselves, it is equipped with the QWERTY keyboard that we all know very well and with a built-in standard mouse.

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It’s also very easy to observe that there are two different parts of the keyboard, the right one being very similar to an arrow that points to the other half. If you wonder why the designer has thought to such a design, let me tell you there is some logic in it: the “arrow” can slide on the desk, being able to act just like a regular mouse. So, you can use this half as a keyboard, as long as you don’t move it around to your desk. The moment it senses the movement, the keyboard turns into a mouse and you’ll see the cursor move. Yeah, you’re right, the keys are the click buttons: I, O, J, K and L.

More than that, it seems that this concept keyboard has been tested at the Wichita State University, where it was a real success. For the moment, you can only go to the product’s page and see how the concept keyboard works, as it’s not available for purchase.

(Source: Coolest-Gadgets)