Digital Home Thoughts: Watch Microsoft's Multi-Touch Mice In Action!

"Today at the User Interface Software and Technology Conference, Microsoft will show five new mouse prototypes that combine normal mousing with multitouch controls. Here is a video that gives you a brief introduction to each of the controls."

A video has surfaced that demonstrates Microsoft's foray into multi-touch mice and how they can be used in different applications. The demos are somewhat interesting, but I think that it is the finger gestures that they demonstrate that could have the most potential in real world applications. Watching the hand do awkward things like pinching and stretching on a mouse looks painful to me, and not something that I would relish doing repeatedly. And while multi-touch actions are useful, putting those on a mouse seems counter-intuitive to me, since it is a step removed from the actual object you're interacting with; why not just do those actions right on the screen itself? Flicks and twists though, look much more natural, and I could see those being more quickly accepted. Anyone going to rush out the moment these, or something like them, go on sale?