Input Device

Tired of running out of mousing room on your meagre li'l mousepad? If so, you might like the Padrone Primera mouse. It's worn like a ring, and is claimed to turn the entire top of your desk into a giant touchpad.

Last year we told you about the CharaChorder Lite, a special keyboard that lets users type faster by using groupings of keys to represent entire words. Well, any keyboard can now do that, if it's equipped with the CharaChorder X.

Back in 2016 we told you about a wearable device known as the Tap Strap, which lets users control Bluetooth-linked devices via finger-taps. Its inventors have now announced its sleeker and more capable successor, called the TapXR.

Although there are already complex prototype interfaces that track all of the fingers on a computer-user's hand, let's be honest – it's mostly just the index finger that matters. That's where the experimental AuraRing system is designed to come in.

The humble computer mouse hasn't changed much since it was first conceived back in the 1960s, but the new Logitech Yoga Mouse has an interesting trick up its sleeve. It doubles as a Windows remote control for taking command of your media player, presentation software and other applications.

The VRgo chair is a tilting input device that moves the user through a virtual reality setting by tracking the direction of their derrière, freeing up the hands for other tasks, like wielding weapons. ​

The latest book to join a growing library of digitally inspired writing platforms is Rocketbook, and it does so with an interesting twist. Further to shooting handwritten notes and doodles to the cloud, when it fills up users can stick the book in the microwave to wipe its pages clean.

While a wrist-worn smartwatch may be easier to access than a smartphone that has to be retrieved from a pocket, the things certainly have tiny screens. That's where iSkin comes in. It allows users to control mobile devices using flexible, stretchable stickers that adhere to their skin.

California-based WayTools has taken a different approach to typing on the go with its TextBlade keyboard, which it claims is the "most compact touch-type machine ever produced" and literally pulls apart to fit in a pocket.

What happens when you're immersed in a virtual world – such as a game – and you want to use your real-world fingers to control your virtual fingers in that world? Well, China's Dexta Robotics has created an exoskeleton for your hand, which can even provide the user with a sense of touch.

Drawing or making notes with a computer pen or stylus doesn't have the same feeling as using a paper and pen. Sometimes, however, you want to digitize something that you've drawn or written by hand. The new Moleskine Livescribe notebooks let you do both at the same time.

For all the input methods available, the humble keyboard remains central to most computer usage. Over time different designs have tried to perfect the mechanics, improve comfort and even project the keys. The new Ultimate Hacking Keyboard targets configurability, ergonomics and build quality.