Skip to Content

Building a Better Mouse

August 19, 2009

Optical mouses freed us from mouse pads and the chore of cleaning gunk from our mouse’s innards every few weeks. But they don’t work well on transparent or highly polished surfaces. With its Performance Mouse MX, Logitech solves this problem by borrowing a trick from microscopic imaging: dark-field microscopy, often employed by biologists examining low-contrast specimens such as live amoebas. Unlike other optical mouses, which track their position by looking at the direct reflection of a laser that illuminates the surface beneath the mouse, Logitech’s mouse ignores the reflection completely. Instead, it looks at the light scattered off minute imperfections and particles on the surface. This mouse works even on a glass desktop.

Product: Logitech Performance Mouse MX

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets

When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.

The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.

Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.

Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch

Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.