Cordless Mouse

....A cordless and batteryless computer mouse developed by Steve Hines. .Light weight and works on any surface. .HinesLab announces a new technology for cordless computer mice, communicating with the computer using light, rather than electrical signals.. The HinesLab Light Mouse™ lacks the electronics and battery used in other cordless mice. .Unlike all previous wired and cordless mice which are electrical devices, the patented HinesLab Light Mouse™ is a passive optical device with few parts, making it inexpensive to manufacture.

....The Light Mouse™ is not to be confused with the power-hungry optical mouse which requires a cord or battery, and which does not work on black cloth or polished surfaces.

Signal Processing: Broadband infrared energy (shown as white light) radiates from the keyboard controller to enter the Light Mouse™ through a side opening near the front. .Internal optics separate the light into narrow wavelengths which are modulated on and off by the mouse button, and by the rotating chopper wheels as the mouse is moved. .The signals are reflected out of the mouse and back to the controller, acting as an open-air spectrometer. .The controller senses the returned light to create electrical signals, which are identical to those from a conventional wired mouse, and turns them into cursor movements.

The spectral chart at right indicates narrow-band signals from the mouse being detected to position the cursor on the screen, and use of the mouse button (shown as red).

Optical Layout: With the cover removed, the light path is visible.. Light enters the mouse and makes several reflections to enter the dark chamber where it reflects off of a diffraction grating, separating into colors. .Individual colors are reflected and focused at the slots of chopper wheels, and at the shutter for the mouse button, where the light is retroreflected back out of the mouse to the source at the controller.

A toggle handle on the bottom of the mouse flips a mirror, shown at the front of the mouse, to accommodate left or right-hand users.

Features of the Light Mouse™

No cord is used between the mouse and the computer.
No mouse pad, or special surface, is required.
All of the electrical parts, normally associated with other mice, are eliminated from the Light Mouse™ (however are relocated in the controller, guaranteeing electrical compatibility).
Most of the optical components used in the Light Mouse™ are molded as part of the lower housing, reducing the manufacturing cost.
The Light Mouse™ controller is compatible with any USB computer (PC, Macintosh, etc.).
The Light Mouse™ emits no electrical radiation.
No battery, therefore:
a. Reduced cost.
b. Reduced weight and fatigue.
c. No recharging or having to replace a battery, limiting the time of use.

Retroreflection: Retroreflectors are special reflectors that return light back to the source. .Anyone who has driven at night and seen the eyes of a distant animal reflecting the car's headlights has experienced retroreflection. .In the pictures above, deer and alligator eyes retroreflect the photographer's light back to the camera. .When the animal blinks, the return signals turn off and on cleanly creating square waves. .Continuing with this analogy, the Light Mouse™ is the distant animal, which blinks in 5 colors.

....Synthetic retroreflectors are used as bicycle reflectors, in safety clothing, and on traffic cones. .The Light Mouse™ uses retroreflectors to reflect light back to the computer to control the cursor.

The Controller:

....The controller can be a separate USB device packaged with the Light Mouse™, or integrated into the edge of the keyboard or notebook computer. The electrical signals from the Light Mouse™ controller are identical to that from a conventional wired mouse.

....*The illustrations above refer to white light and visible colors to facilitate explanation; however, the Light Mouse™ uses broadband infrared energy, directed from the edge of a keyboard to the Light Mouse™ which separates the energy into narrow-band IR signals.. In the return path, from the mouse back to the controller, optical filtration is used so that only the IR signals will be detected.


Comments about the Light Mouse™:

..
Kristin Lewotsky, editor, Optical Engineering Magazine: "It's a very clever design. .I'm sure you'll find you have a number of optics folks looking for this gee-whizzy mouse."

..
Jon Titus, member, National Association of Science Writers: "His use of optics is quite clever and I wish him good fortune in pursuing a market for the device or the technology."



For more information:

U.S. Pat. 6,111,563
U.S. Pat. 6,344,846
The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA), p. E1, Dec. 3, 2001.
Focus Magazine (Poland), Dec. 2001, p. 30.
Popular Science, Nov. 2001, p. 20.
Awarded NASA Tech Briefs merit prize, March, 2003
oeMagazine, Sept. 2003, p. 30.