Laptop Mouse Designed Using Real Mouse. Creepy or Cool?
WARNING: Graphic pictures of dead mouse. Viewer discretion advised. A biologist Christy Canida and environmental studies graduate Noah Weinsrein took the concept of a computer ‘mouse’ to its natural limit. Both contribute to the Instructables website (where you can find instructions on how to make similarly odd creations) and made the mouse using the skin of a real rodent bought dead from a US pet shop. Is this a advancement in taxidermy, or does it have an inkling of animal cruelty? Share you thoughts in the response tab.
By Sadho Ram — 21 Mar 2013, 11:56 PM — Updated about 11 years ago
DIY computer mouse using real mouse
Hacked travel-size (hardware) mouse + taxidermied (wetware) mouse = Mouse Mouse!
Fully functional, and furry!
Warning: this project involves taxiderm...
Hacked travel-size (hardware) mouse + taxidermied (wetware) mouse = Mouse Mouse!
Fully functional, and furry!
Warning: this project involves taxiderm...
This project involves taxidermy, dremels, and sometimes graphic pictures of dead animals. While there are no guts in this tutorial, viewer discretion is still advised.
Obtain a small travel-size (hardware) mouse. This one is a wired mouse that is way to small to use comfortably every day, but perfect for going inside of a mouse
Remove as much plastic as necessary to make your mice fit, but take care not to damage the circuit board.
Assembly Part 1: Reconstitution
If you've trimmed any bulky edges of the casing away, you'll want to wrap them in plastic to keep the mouse skin away from the circuit board.
Assembly Part 2: Integration
We inserted the mouse into the shoulders first, then pulled the tail region around the back. It was a tight fit, next time we'll find a fatter mouse, as it's easy to fill extra space with cotton balls
Optical Sensor
If you've got an albino mouse, its skin might be clear enough for your optical mouse to work directly through the dry skin. Our mouse had a bit of pigment, so it was necessary to remove the skin flap
Completed Mouse Mouse!
Keep in mind that this mouse isn't meant for heavy-duty computer use- it's a functional work of art, and should be saved for stylish installations and special occasions.
Now plug your Mouse Mouse into your computer and test things out! Ours worked perfectly- I was really quite surprised by how well it turned out.