I can hear your mousebeat?

[bearoninternet]

Using computers can be, and more often that not is, a fairly stressful pursuit, but just how much, can usually only be calculated based on how much remains of whatever was on the desk before the damn PC decided to crash again - hardly scientific. Asus might just have a more interesting option, though, in the form of the Vito W1 mouse which not also serves as a pointing device, but also packs a built-in heart monitor. I suppose I should make some kind of pun about Asus having its finger on the pulse of modern technology…

The mouse reads its user's pulse with a sensor which sits under the thumb (right-handed users only here) and feeds data back to a bundled software suite which displays not only heart-rate but also various different smiley (or not) faces to based on that information. Of course watching your stress levels build up over time could, arguably, start a dangerous feedback loop - there's no better way to exacerbate someone's stress that to tell them they need to calm down.

The mouse itself is a 1,200dpi affair, uses 2.4GHz wireless to communicate to a PC via a bundled dongle and sports five programmable button. Asus reckons a pair of AA batteries will provide up to five months operation, although frequent long use will obviously shorten that. The use of the heart-monitor will reduce battery life, too.

- Link (asus)