Using two mice/trackballs; one in each hand.

[Namaste]

I have a fairly severe neuropathy which limits how I can move my fingers. I have spent years trying to find an input device that works for me, and allows me to be nearly as productive as my less disabled colleagues. The nearest I've come to it is the Kensington Expert.

However, I still find that my hand will fatigue and ache, and it is helpful to be able to switch hands. I want to be able to do this dynamically and quite sporadically. Obviously I can plug two Experts in, and switch between them, but I need the controls on each to be a mirror of the other. Is there any way of doing this?

The alternative will just be to get an L-Trac and by virtue of the fact they use different drivers they could be configured differently. However, the L-Trac is hard to get hold of at the moment, it's much more expensive than I can really afford, and given the limitations of my fingers, I don't think the scroll wheel placement will work as well for me as the scroll ring on the expert.

Any suggestions would be really helpful, oh and I'm using Windows, but it'd be good to have something for Mac OS too, as in my industry some offices use Macs.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

You may want to take a look at the software called: Eithermouse

it's free, and allows you to change quite a few settings between multiple mice on a system. It's how I use both a standard mouse for gaming, and two different trackballs on two different levels to help manage my carpal tunnel.

I'd give it a try, It'll let you swap mouse click on just one mouse, and change sensitivity on both. It's a pretty nifty piece of software.

[Namaste]

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried eithermouse before, but unless I'm mistaken, it does not seem to offer enough button customisation.

For the Expert to be usable I have to re-map the buttons, mainly having the top two buttons as the left and right click rather than the bottom two, and having the keyboard-side bottom buttom as a middle click. I think eithermouse only allows buttons to be flipped?

[jacethesaltsculptor]

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried eithermouse before, but unless I'm mistaken, it does not seem to offer enough button customisation.

For the Expert to be usable I have to re-map the buttons, mainly having the top two buttons as the left and right click rather than the bottom two, and having the keyboard-side bottom buttom as a middle click. I think eithermouse only allows buttons to be flipped?

oh I see the issue. Perhaps a combination of that, and the kensington software? I'm sure a quick test could be gotten with just one mouse. It'd be my thought.

I don't know of any more powerful mouse software for Windows. Eithermouse was a revelation to me, since I had trouble finding anything that was of good quality for Windows that wasn't mouse specific.

Best of luck in the search. I'll be watching this thread, because I'm on the hunt for better mouse software myself.

[Namaste]

Thanks!

I've tried them before and unfortunately the Kensington drivers don't work with eithermouse, I appreciate the suggestion though.

[clicks]

The Rollermouse and SwiftPoint mouses have been my favorite these days for preventing aches. I also often vary the way I use alternating hands for mouse actions, maybe one hand only does the clicking (with my hand holding the clicking device in a better position) and the other just moving the cursor. Keep in mind click-drag and other mouse-holding actions work poorly in the two mouse method.

Steermouse app seems to work with many of my other mouses for customizing button presses (macOS)

Namaste 🙏

[clicks]

These are other great tools to help with key mapping http://xahlee.info/kbd/Mac_OS_X_keymapping_keybinding_tools.html

[islisis]

You need a HID library something like the Interception library for AHK.
https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=26306