Valve engineer makes a mouse you control with your tongue

A video from Valve designer Ben Krasnow shows off an experimental project to test the use of the tongue to control a computer.

The development of the “Tongue Mouse” is the result of mapping “X/Y cordinates in a Windows-style UI with tongue movements constrained to a plane.”

According to Krasnow, this doesn’t work perfectly despite the tongue’s “fine motor control” as it is difficult to smoothly achieve the 2D movement necessary to operate a system developed for a classic mouse controller.

“I think there is possible applications for swipe interfaces, carousel menus, yes/no input, etc.” he writes in the video description.

Krasnow describes the practical use of the device as being an alternative to traditional keyboard and mouse set-ups, for users away from these typical control devices or for applications such as augmented reality or Google Glass systems where users will not want to burder their hands to interact with the computer. Commenters also suggest the terrifying development of remote kissing hardware.Tongue mouse designs have also previously been developed for use with paralyzed PC owners.