Shaking Hands with an Ergonomic Mouse

Wow-Pen's new Joy mouse tilts your hand 90 degrees into a handshake gesture, supposedly creating a more comfortable mousing position.

Computer hardware designers have built a lot of strange devices in the name of ergonomics. Witness: kneeling chairs, wave keyboards, and wrist rests that feel like they’re made of Jell-O. You can now add to that list the vertical mouse, a 90 degree spin on the conventional mouse that puts your hand in a handshake position as you push it around on a desk.

The creatively named Korean company Wow-Pen announced the Joy ergonomic mouse back in February, but the device just began shipping in the U.S. recently. Its makers claim that it reduces stress on the wrist by allowing your hand to sit the same way it does when it hangs limp by your side – vertically. As you might expect, they also claim it alleviates carpal tunnel strain and reduce fatigue.

It looks like a combination of a mouse tipped on end and a joystick, with a wide base, two buttons where the middle and forefinger lay, and a pronounced upward jut between thumb and forefinger. Extra buttons scattered elsewhere give it a total of five.

Unfortunately, if you want to test drive one before you buy, you’ll just have to trust Wow-Pen and hope for the best, since the Joy is only available online. It sells for $39.95.