Summary
One of the disadvantages to collecting retro peripherals is that they’re not necessarily easy to use anymore. [eSPee77] changes that by retrofitting a Genius GM-6000 mouse with modern hardware, all while preserving the feel. To make this mouse without compromising on the feel of the original, means replacing the PCB with a new one while retaining the same buttons and encoders. So [eSPee77] did exactly that. At the heart of the conversion lies an nRF52840 on a custom PCB. It uses new optical sensors to read the existing quadrature encoders, and uses the same type of switch for the mouse buttons as the original. But from there, it diverges because–powered by the BLE capabilities of the nRF–this is actually a wireless mouse! And the modern features don’t end there, either. To support scrolling on a mouse which did not originally have it, you can press the middle mouse button while moving it forward/backward. Finally, as the cherry on the cake, it features an “air mouse” mode using an inertial measurement unit, handy for use in presentations. Interesting. The GM series is a classic. It’s from the days of DR. HALO graphics software. I hope that a 3D model will be created once in the future. Either traditionally, by using pen and paper or by using an 3D modelling software. The protocol of Genius mice seem to have been related to Mouse Systems Mouse protocol. The company behind Genius, Kye Systems, did buy Mouse Systems, eventually. This is all very fascinating. I’d love to see a transparent version of the Genius Mouse, eventually. No, not because of “prison tech”, but because transparent models often had been educational/demonstration models. Were I live, at least. In museums, exhibition models are sometimes made transparent, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KYE_Systems