This would work like a revolving projector. The image it would create is a mouse arrow, now free to roam your home or office.

A revolving projector (USB hookup) would be mounted on top of your monitor. Whenever your mouse hits the edge of the screen for more than three seconds, the arrow is hidden and the projector turns on. The projector uses the mouse's X and Y coordinates to move. To return the mouse to its cage, just hold the left and right mouse buttons to turn off the projector and return to your screen.
-- ghillie, Oct 09 2003

(?) Virtuawin http://tucows.wave....preview/217486.html
An actual useful purpose for moving the mouse off the desktop. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Sony Hyperdrag http://hackedgadget...9/23/hyperdragging/
Drag & drop outside the screen [BunsenHoneydew, Sep 29 2006]

Can you do anything with the mouse arrow when its pointing at something on the wall? If not, whats the point?
-- krelnik, Oct 09 2003


Might be fun for a few seconds. Why the left-right mouse button thing? Why the 3 second delay?

I've never looked at the guts of a mouse driver to know how to do this, but it seems like even when the pointer's off the screen the software could just transfer the movements to the projector control automatically (via USB, whatever). Then you could move the mouse pointer on and off the screen seamlessly.

Maybe instead of a fancy projector, a simple laser pointer would suffice. I think I've seen some with a lens of sorts that makes shapes. Mount it on the ceiling in a position that would allow it to shine on your monitor surround so that it might conceivably look like the pointer was escaping from the screen.

The office cat might like it.

Pay no attention...just rambling.
-- half, Oct 09 2003


[krelnik] I was thinking about it interacting with different things on your walls, but I wasn't sure how to do it. Maybe a second projector could put up a desktop or different icons that you could interact with. Or a game, like Duck Hunt for NES.
-- ghillie, Oct 09 2003


[half] The three second off-the-screen feature was so that you wouldn't accidentally turn it on when your boss comes in, and make him think you were playing around.
-- ghillie, Oct 09 2003


Aim at an air vent, lamp, window shade, TV -- for a drop-down menu of remote control options. +

//instead of a fancy projector, a simple laser pointer//
If I accidentally point it in my eye, it could set up an appointment with my ophthalmologist.
-- Amos Kito, Oct 09 2003


it would be good if you could interact with various office or home equipment.

close blinds or turn on central heating/air conditioning.
-- Pop Weasel, Feb 10 2006


This is beginning to sound useful.

A webcam or whatnot could take photos of your room, you circle objects or define zones and then assign characteristics, menu options etc to them. Fancy pattern recognition could maybe even handle objects that move from their initial location.

Right click on your telephone to bring up a phone list, click a number to dial it. Click on your fax to send a fax, on your external hard drive to activate your automated backup.

A projector would be more useful than a laser pointer, because you could project the drop-down menus onto the device itself.

The projector would need to be pretty close to (directly over?) your head to avoid parallax errors making the menu unreadable as it falls on non-flat surfaces.

Somehow I think this would do enjoyably strange things to my brain. I want one. [+]
-- BunsenHoneydew, May 06 2006


Good Lord. It would seem that someone at Sony reads this site. [link]
-- BunsenHoneydew, Sep 29 2006



random, halfbakery