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An analyst at Gartner has predicted that the computer mouse is to become extinct within five years, according to BBC news.

Steve Prentice believes that so-called gestural mechanisms using facial recognition technology and touch screens will become the norm.

While he feels the keyboard 'for all its faults' will remain, the mouse will begin to disappear.

'The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it's over,' he told the BBC.

He made his prediction because of the amount of effort he sees electronics firms making to create new interactive interfaces from the world of gaming.

One such device is the 'MotionPlus' for the Nintendo Wii which was unveiled at E3 2008.

The device gives the Wii remote greater accuracy in motion detection, which should allow it to be used with greater precision when interacting with any games.

Mr Prentice described the Wii Remote as a sign of the future, given the two-way relationship it supplies between user and machine and he felt tilting mechanisms like that seen in the iPhone will start to become standard.


Source: BCS

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