the clickmouse

While doing work on the computer and listening to music, the last thing you want to do when a bad song comes on is to switch to your music application and mess around. Also, video editing and audio applications where a scrub tools and other customizable buttons are often needed require external peripherals which are expensive and do not allow you to use the mouse at the same time unless you are ambidexteruous and can use one in your left hand and the other in your right hand. Enter the clickmouse: The clickmouse is a touch sensitive two- button mouse plus an ipod-like clickwheel and a force-sensing side switch. The two main buttons are touch sensitive and operate when enough of the finger is covering the sensitive area. The click- wheel is a touch sensitive surface with position sensing, and is layered over five buttons, four around the edges and one in the center. Moving the finger in a rotating motion activates a scrubbing function. Moving the finger in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line actives omnidirectional scrolling. The five buttons under the touch surface can be programmed for each unique application. There is a force- activated "squeeze" button operated by the thumb and ringer finger where they hold the mouse. squeezing this button causes the click-wheel to override application commands and switch to music commands. The play/pause/next/ previous/menu buttons are around the edges, with the center button being like an "enter" button. Pressing the play/pause, next, and previous song buttons operate transparently without disrupting the current application. If the menu button is pressed, a music widget appears onscreen with a list of music and playlists, which can be navigating using the scroll wheel and selected using the enter key. Upon selecting new music or pressing the menu button the widget disappears and normal computer operation resumes.

See the attached graphic for a mockup of the design.