CEO Jack Atzmon presented Smartfish Technologies’s lineup of ergonomic mice and keyboards and a prototype for a new gaming controller to a flurry of interest on the CES showroom floor.
“All technology until now has been designed for the benefit of the equipment,” said Atzmon, who drew upon his chiropractic experience for inspiration in his product designs. “I’m looking to design it for the benefit of the user.”
Smartfish’s lineup is designed to reduce stress on the user’s hands. Currently on the market are their Engage keyboard, which employs a motor to regularly shift the slant of the keyboard at periodic intervals based on the user’s typing patterns, and the Whirl, a mouse mounted on a pivot base to achieve similar goals and developed as a happy accident during the Engage’s development cycle.
Smartfish hopes to leverage these two products to develop their GripWhip controller, aimed for Xbox 360 and Playstation3 license. Inspired by Atzmon’s 16-year-old son, the GripWhip aims features pivoting grips which shift in response to pressure to reduce stress. Smartfish expects it on the market in six months.
The Engage keyboard, the Whirl mouse, and a miniature variety are all available through Smartfish’s online store at www.getsmartfish.com, priced at $149.99 for the keyboard and $49.99 for either mouse variant. A portion of proceeds is donated to the Hospital for Special Surgery Rehabilitation Education Fund.
Trauben’s Impressions
I honestly didn’t get much time to fiddle with these devices, so it’s hard for me to say much about them. The GripWhip prototype I handled seemed odd- it might be more healthy for our hands, but I’m so used to a rigid controller that it’d take some getting used to a controller with no rigid points.
Huneycutt’s Impressions
This is an easy line of products to get behind, but a hard group to review, let alone preview from a two-minute hands-on sequence. First of all, I have a particular awareness of the idea of Proper Usage. This is a term that comes from a school of thought called Alexander Training, a form of study of the body, its structure, and the most healthy and effective usage thereof. So this product was of a special import to me, and inasmuch as I serve double-duty as a keyboard-hound I certainly understand the necessity for any ergonomically appropriate devices. This line is a great idea, and I hope it gets the attention it deserves. While the passion for the product was clear, and while the products themselves were both well-reasoned and well-built, the ultimate test here is going to be the end result of months and months of time with the device. Based on the very nature of the keyboard, we can’t see much in the way of its ability to automatically adjust, though its manual adjust displayed the full spectrum of the products range of motion. The mouse was a very comfortable device for the short time I used it, though i have to say my own Logitech MX-518’s ergonomic curves seemed better suited from a strictly geometric angle; I’d almost like to see the pivot-base of the SmartFish remain, but the ovular (admittedly ambidextrous, but uncomfortably so for both righties and lefties) design of the unit altered in favor of two designs, one favoring either group. The laptop mouse was far less comfortable than its desktop cousin, though still far more comfortable than the standard teensy bluetooth option. Regardless, I’m quite impressed with the conceptual creativity of the line, and seeing the level of passion and interest in public opinion of the developers, this is a line I will be following with a great level of interest.
As an afterthought, I feel I should mention the controller. I’ve established I have a special interest in the world of Proper Usage, and so the prototype Xbox 360 Controller should be something right up my alley. In short, it is not. The concept is fine, the flexible horns on the side of the unit pivoting so as to reduce the strain on a specific muscle group in the thumb in favor of using the muscles of the forearm to punch a button. That simple part of the concept works, but the unit itself has the two horns/handgrips of the controller in a completely flat plane. This is a concept that’s hard to illustrate without a hands-on test with the unit, but if you simply study the example of controllers extending back to the PS1, you’ll see a pair of hand-grips that extend downwards at an angle of approximately 35-40 degrees. This is comfortable; the Dualshock hasn’t changed in simply geometric terms in almost twenty years. Again, this is a new product line, and based on the sheer pedigree of the minds behind the development, I’m certain they’ll twig onto this concept, and we’ll see some very seriously impressive work.