Wing: the beautiful future of the computer mouse

It looks like a mouse…
While the Wing is clearly based on the same principles as the standard desktop mouse – the buttons, the scroll wheel, the shape of it – it’s taking things one step further by adding 3D control.

3D control? What does that mean exactly?
Well, in addition to standard 2D movement tracking, Wing has yaw, roll and pitch controls: you can rotate the mouse for yaw, tip it back or forward for pitch, or left and right for roll. It can also track “z-height” – you can move the entire top portion of the Wing up and down on two stainless steel pillars. Your computer, essentially, views Wing as a mouse and two joysticks.

What purpose does all that serve?
The extra degree of control means you can use the Wing for more than just moving a pointer on a flat plane. It can be used for computer-aided 3D design, flight simulator games (we bet it’d work a dream with an Oculus Rift) and even remote UAV flying.

UAV flying? You mean drones?
Indeed. Worthington Sharpe, the Wing’s creators, have a background in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and this controller could be used to fly one from afar.

It’s a great-looking device. Like that spaceship out of Flight of the Navigator.
Indeed it is. But the brushed and polished aluminium models in these pictures are pre-production prototypes, and Worthington Sharpe says they’ll most likely switch to a hardier anodised ceramic finish for the final production model.

I want it, shiny or not. What’s the deal with availability?
You won’t be able to get your hands (or rather, hand) on one for a while, sadly. The Wing is currently undergoing testing and will be launched to the wider market via a Kickstarter campaign in August or September this year, with a full retail release pencilled in for April 2015. Worthington Sharpe is aiming for an release price tag of around £650, but says it could be lower depending on the volume of pre-orders received.

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