01/22/96 EEK! THERE'S A MOUSE UNDER MY FOOT

EEK! THERE'S A MOUSE UNDER MY FOOT

WHETHER THEY'RE MICE OR trackballs, computer pointing devices have two flaws: Using them interferes with your typing and increases the risk of carpal-tunnel syndrome and repetitive-stress injury. Hunter Digital Ltd., a privately held Los Angeles startup, wants to shift the burden to more rugged appendages: your feet. The NoHands Mouse, soon to ship for PCs and Macintoshes, uses two pedals: You rock one to move the cursor and use the other to click.
Company President Aaron H. Sones, a former emergency-room doctor, says that he invented the $159.95 device so he wouldn't have to take his hands off his keyboard while programming. The gizmo is based on the IBM TrackPoint technology used in notebook computers. Sones says IBM granted Hunter Digital full access to its engineers and was surprised to learn that it wound up in a foot mouse. Already the device has been put to surprising use: A Walt Disney Co. animator with wrist problems ``started drawing with the damn thing,'' Sones says.
EDITED BY WILLIAM J. WINKLER