Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Jupiter Accelerometer Mouse: It's Made out of Wood

Mice are usually made out of some form of plastic. The Jupiter Mouse uses wood instead. That alone makes it an interesting computer accessory. The Jupiter Mouse is a sphere of wood that's been fashioned into a handheld mouse. An accelerometer translates yaw and tilt into movement on a computer screen, kind of like a Wii controller.

The Jupiter Mouse is made by Actbrise Electronics. The swirls in the wood grain remind of the planet Jupiter. This mouse is made out Chinese flowering ash from Japan’s rural Gunma prefecture. The click button represents Jupiter's great red spot.

The mouse is held in the palm of your hand. The cursor is moved around thanks to an accelerometer. It's a different approach to interfacing with your computer, which might be best suited for multimedia desktops or living room computers. Instead of having a mouse laying around, you'd just have this wooden sphere.

The Jupiter accelerometer mouse is available for $239 at the Japan Trend Shop.

[via Technabob, photos via Japan Trend Shop]