Air Hockey Mouse pad!

[The K-Man89]

Hey gang,

 

I am a tinkerer to say the least and had an idea for an air hockey mouse pad. Essentially the same air jet surface of an air hockey table but as a mouse pad. Could be terrible could be amazing. As far as I have found no such thing exists and probably for good reason but I still want to try and build one. I would love the community's thoughts on this!

[Blue4130]

3 minutes ago, The K-Man89 said:

Hey gang,

 

I am a tinkerer to say the least and had an idea for an air hockey mouse pad. Essentially the same air jet surface of an air hockey table but as a mouse pad. Could be terrible could be amazing. As far as I have found no such thing exists and probably for good reason but I still want to try and build one. I would love the community's thoughts on this!

The weight of your hand would negate any benefit that the air table would provide. The air pressure is REALLY quite low.

[The K-Man89]

10 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

The weight of your hand would negate any benefit that the air table would provide. The air pressure is REALLY quite low.

Oh for sure but if you were a light grip and cranked up the air pressure a bit it might help with drag even if it's just a little. I was also thinking more air holes then in an air hockey table and have them closer together to increase surface area.

[Dedayog]

5 minutes ago, The K-Man89 said:

Oh for sure but if you were a light grip and cranked up the air pressure a bit it might help with drag even if it's just a little. I was also thinking more air holes then in an air hockey table and have them closer together to increase surface area.

Lot of "ifs" need to happen to get it to work.  Chalk it up as a fun idea but not feasible for production.

[The K-Man89]

15 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Lot of "ifs" need to happen to get it to work.  Chalk it up as a fun idea but not feasible for production.

I totally agree there are ALOT of ifs and ducks to align to get it to work right but I love going down those roads even if it's only hypothetical. What would you think would be the hardest part in "getting it off the ground" lol sorry bad joke. 

 

I think the toughest part would be focusing enough air pressure without it sounding like you have a small air compressor on your desk.

 

[Blue4130]

3 minutes ago, The K-Man89 said:

I totally agree there are ALOT of ifs and ducks to align to get it to work right but I love going down those roads even if it's only hypothetical. What would you think would be the hardest part in "getting it off the ground" lol sorry bad joke. 

 

I think the toughest part would be focusing enough air pressure without it sounding like you have a small air compressor on your desk.

 

Yes making it somewhat quiet would be a challenge. Air screams when forced through hundreds of small holes at high pressure. Bonus upside, it would make the user a slightly less sweaty gamer. At least their hand.

[The K-Man89]

38 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

Yes making it somewhat quiet would be a challenge. Air screams when forced through hundreds of small holes at high pressure. Bonus upside, it would make the user a slightly less sweaty gamer. At least their hand.

There are so many variables, we would first need a super light mouse and then modify its sliders on the bottom to have the least resistance possible that way we could minimize the amount of air pressure needed to move it. As well as having a highly polished and perfectly flat surface on the mouse pad. What would be ideal is if you could have a sloped case design with a level flat top and at the back of the mouse pad case would be 4 fans putting out 100 CFM out the holes. Should be more than enough to push around a 50g mouse. The added cooling for the user would be a much welcomed bonus!

[Doobeedoo]

Make something with magnets on pad and mouse heh.

[The K-Man89]

3 hours ago, Doobeedoo said:

Make something with magnets on pad and mouse heh.

Are you talking about like a magnet levitation set up? That would be cool but would not function at all on a modern mouse. If it was an old steel ball mouse you could probably configure the magnets to move the track ball but I don't know how's good the performance would be.

[Doobeedoo]

9 minutes ago, The K-Man89 said:

Are you talking about like a magnet levitation set up? That would be cool but would not function at all on a modern mouse. If it was an old steel ball mouse you could probably configure the magnets to move the track ball but I don't know how's good the performance would be.

Yeah. It can work, just need a proper sensor LoD and mouse base with magnets inside, of course mousepad surface with other. I mean we kinda already have this with some for couch keyboard and mouse holders, the integrated mousepad is magnetic as well as the bottom of the mouse, but it's made to stick and hold it, opposite.

[The K-Man89]

1 hour ago, Doobeedoo said:

Yeah. It can work, just need a proper sensor LoD and mouse base with magnets inside, of course mousepad surface with other. I mean we kinda already have this with some for couch keyboard and mouse holders, the integrated mousepad is magnetic as well as the bottom of the mouse, but it's made to stick and hold it, opposite.

That's very true, good point but yeah opposite of the goal here haha I'm picturing like a Magic School Bus episode where they remove all friction level of mouse pad. I think both air hockey style and magnetic levitation would both be super cool even if it's just a fun gimmicky peripheral.