Mouse-less mouse pad

A new kind of mouse pad, developed by UK defence company Qinetiq, needs no mouse at all. Instead, it monitors the movement of a human hand waved just above its surface.The pad has a T-shaped array of infrared emitters and sensors, placed together in closely spaced pairs. Each emitter produces uniquely coded pulses so only its paired sensor can "see" the light as it is reflected by a hand moving above.Simple hand motions – left, right, forwards and backwards – are detected by monitoring which sensor pairs are excited.But complex hand gestures, such as moving the hand rapidly in a circle, could be stored on a computer and associated with personalised commands. For example, the machine may know that a rapid circle means "Save all work and shut down – it's time to go home!"The pad should also be inexpensive, Qinetiq says, because infrared diodes are already manufactured by the million for remote control units. And, if the owner gets tired of waving their hand, the pad can still be used with a convention mouse.