FYP information gathered while in LogitechElaine Potter

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Change Your Mouse colour to suit Your Mood!!

How it works.

The 'stone' of a mood ring is really a hollow quartz or glass shell containing thermotropic liquid crystals.

Modern mood jewellery is usually made from a flat strip of liquid crystals with a protective coating.

Liquid crystals are extremely sensitive to heat, and will twist their position in response to a rise or drop in temperature. Light comes in many different wavelengths and each is reflected to our eyes as a different colour. The position of the crystals determines which wavelengths of light are absorbed and which are reflected back to us, and this is what makes the stone appear to change colour.

Logitech Confidential

4

Range of colours. What do they mean?

The top of the list is the warmest temperature, at violet, moving to the coolest temperature, at black.

violet blue - happy, romantic blue - calm, relaxed green - average, not much going on with you yellow/amber - tense, excited brown/gray - nervous, anxious black - cold temperature or damaged ring

See also colour changing Paint

Eclipse paint is heat reactive and can change from pitch black to brilliant white depending on the temperature. By mixing it with other colours there are near infinite possibilities.

There is talk of people developing a paramagnetic iron oxide paint polymer. Using an electrical charge, the arrangement of iron oxide crystals can be tweaked, to adjust colour. (There has been speculation of this technology being used on cars)

Inform others of your mood• There is a huge growth of popularity in social networking sites such as Facebook,

Bebo and MySpace.• A popular aspect of this is the “saying” part (i.e the main function of Twitter) in this

section it allows users to tell anyone viewing their page what there up to and how they are feeling.

Expandable wings on mouse

Dealing with the portability pain point.

Instead of buying a mouse for on the go OR for working at your desk.Buy one that does Both

Use smaller size when in situations where there isn't much table space.

Example: Coffee shop, Airport.

Expand mouse when at a desk with space.

A regular sized mouse in your laptop bag feels awkward and the smaller ones, designed for portability, aren’t very convenient to handle.

‘Jelly click’ is a flat type portable mouse that can be inflated by blowing air into it and then it becomes a regular size mouse. When inflated the mouse feels like touching a soft jelly and hence the name. After using it you can deflate it and fold it up.

Jelly Click- Inflatable mouse

How to use this idea in for a portable mouse? But to design it with Logitech's aesthetic and engineering guidelines.

Expandable wings- like an insectInsects keep themselves as small as possible until they are about to take off.

This is inspirational to look at for mice. Typically smaller mice will be used for short periods on the go and when a person is ready to use them for a longer period i.e at work they have to be bigger and more comfortable.

There are problems with this is that when any type of “wing” opens out there is no support left for the palm of the hand.

Technologies available to make this happen. Control the air flow.

1. Peristaltic pump

A peristaltic pump is a positive displacement pump used in many biomedical and industrial devices. Its size varies greatly. Can be made v.small as has limited, simple parts.

A rotor with a number of "rollers", "shoes" or "wipers" attached to the external circumference compresses the flexible tube. As the rotor turns, the part of tube under compression closes thus forcing the fluid to be pumped to move through the tube. Additionally, as the tube opens to its natural state after the passing of the cam fluid flow is induced to the pump.

Advantages to this technology

1. The only part of the pump in contact with the fluid being pumped is the interior of the tube, it is easy to sterilize and clean the inside surfaces of the pump.

2. Since there are no moving parts in contact with the fluid, peristaltic pumps are inexpensive to manufacture.

3. Their lack of valves, seals and glands makes them comparatively inexpensive to maintain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peristaltic_pump

2. Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor

An automatic blood pressure monitor is used in the case of people who take their own blood pressure at regular intervals at home between doctors visits.

Older models used a rubber ball to pump air and fill the cuff (often lead to inaccurate readings) so the automatic version uses electronically operated pump and valve to eliminate human error.

It works by inflating to a point where pressure sensors located between the cuff and the arm will tell it when to stop.

Designed by Nature, For Nature

Let the customers know that the designs are inspired by animals and use environmentally friendly products.

Sturdy laptopA laptop designed to go with you

Portability versus Safety

Bring the office with you wherever you go

Palm control trackball mouse

Elaine Potter

Innovation Seminar

9-6-09

With Borneo the thumb is rested and supported when the hidden button is in use.

With the thumb operated trackball the thumb is constantly supporting itself to hold this position to use the trackball.

There is no natural way to rest the thumb when the trackball is not in use. The side of the mouse is too wide to rest beside the mouse for most hand sizes.

The ball in existing palm control mice is too big for a smaller hand.

Its is a very unfamiliar experience for anyone using them for the first time.

Area is too large. Does not look portable (for laptop users)

Because the trackball is so large it is difficult to reach the left and right click keys.

Examples of different arcade games with palm control of the trackball

Turn the traditional trackball mouse around so that the palm of the hand rests on the trackball and the fingers come to rest on the keyplate.

Innovation Seminar - Netbooks

Idea 1:Attachable Grip

Elaine PotterCork Workshop29 7 2009

Comments from Amazon on Portability issues.

“Not easy to hold when carrying open. I carry my laptop open a lot at work and at home, so it is nice to be able to grab something at the hinge, such as a protruding battery or crack between screen and keyboard. This Asus has neither --

in fact, it is slippery at the hinge. This is a major ergonomic minus in my book.”

Idea Explained in Detail

Not secure in unstructured environments i.e. not on a table.

How can this idea be achieved ?

In any of these positions the netbook is very unsecure.

Idea

Design a very basic grip that can be attached to the netbook when on the move.

•Can be used in different positions. (When holding the side, or underneath the netbook)

•Low profile, so that it is as unobtrusive as possible if the person chooses to leave it on.

Attachable grip Thin hard plastic

Soft material grip

Adjustable length

Brainstorm Buzz Words

Customisable

Fashion

UniquePortable

Colour

Size differences

Male/ Female

Basic users

Netbook/ Laptop

Unstructured environments

Problem Statement

• An interaction device for a laptop/ Netbook is aimed towards use in an unstructured environment.

• Dealing with the pain points of Portability, Colour customisation, Size customisation.

• Aimed towards the Basic User and not alienating to males or females.