RSI-Relief

In the 03/14/2005 issue of eWeek, Cameron Sturdevant reviews the “RollerMouse Pro”, a keyboard tray with an integrated mouse replacement mechanism that uses a roller bar, along with several buttons that take the place of normal mouse buttons. As Cameron writes, “imagine a miniature rolling pin that easily slides back and forth along with the usual forward and backward spin—positioned just below the space bar on a regular keyboard”.

It sounds interesting, especially since the roller bar can also be pressed to generate a mouse click, much like the scroll wheel on many mice. I’m sure that the RollerMouse would take some getting used to, though Cameron reports that it took him only a couple hours to acclimate himself to it.

The bigger issue is that because of the size of the RollerMouse keyboard tray, it will only accept straight keyboards, and won’t work with the ergonmically-curved keyboards that many RSI sufferers favor. That and it costs $200.

Still, if you’re willing to try a new type of “mouse”, the RollerMouse may be worth a look. As always when you’re trying something new like this, buy from a store that allows you to take back items that don’t work for you, for whatever reason.

Available from Contour Design

There’s another, more extensive, review of RollerMouse over at ExtremeTech.