Posted on 16th Nov 2011 @ 12:47 PM

Most ergonomic products look like a more space-age version of their original incarnation. An ergonomic chair, for example, still looks like a chair -- just maybe one you'd sit in if there were offices on the space station. Ditto for things like pillows, handles, and many computer accessories: You can look at whatever it is, and say definitively, "I know what I’m looking at."

That’s not so with some of the stranger looking ergonomic products, which appear to be anything but what they actually are.

1. The Adapta Mouse

This article rightly says that the Adapta Mouse looks more like a Smurf's hat than a standard computer mouse. We would also add that it looks like a blob of frosting, a cartoon snow drift, or the Nike swoop if someone left it on the radiator. It's apparently super good for your wrist though.

2. Combimouse

Standard keyboards are notoriously hard on the wrists. We just weren't meant to hold our hands at that angle. One solution is to split the keyboard into two pieces. Australian designer Ari Zagnovey did this, and added in a mouse for good measure. It looks like something Tim Burton would have dreamed up. Delia Deetz should be pounding away on this right now.

3. The Stand Angle Chair

The first time we saw a picture of this chair, we assumed it was some sort of hydraulic lift. "Convenient for after lunch-time, when the food coma sets in," we thought. "And also at 3 PM when our blood sugar is low." Turns out, it's just a chair that adjusts to allow you to sit, stand, or sort of hang out in-between sitting and standing. Pretty cool and all, but we like our version better.

4. DataHand

This alternative to a QWERTY keyboard works by placing a radial menu at each fingertip. Users choose the letter they mean to type, and hopefully reduce stress on their wrists at the same time. If it looks retro, it is: The DataHand hails from 1990. No wonder it looks like something out of Total Recall.

5. AirMouse

This lady is obviously coming to kill us. Most of the descriptions of this wearable mouse glove contraption stress its resemblance to Tom Cruise's air screen computer dealie in The Minority Report, but we are actually way more terrified of this gadget than we were of anything in that film.  Just look at the cold gleam in the model's eye as she ferrets out your future crimes. Chilling.