Microsoft hooks several Mice to One PC

Microsoft has developed a technology that lets several mice be used with a PC simultaneously to make up for shortage of computers in classrooms. The mice are connected to the PC’s (universal serial bus) port.

Multiple cursors are displayed in different colors on the screen. A voting mechanism is in place that lets students switch to a different PC application only if the majority of them click their mice in favor. Another utility keeps track of how each student does on an instructional program.

A key problem at rural schools in India is that the number of students far outnumber the PCs in the classroom, said Kentaro Toyama, assistant managing director of Microsoft Research India. As a result, several students often have to use the same PC, and one child often monopolizes the computer, he said. [via]