The last innovative thing that researchers put on a mouse was a scroll wheel. And since the day all mice started featuring a scroll wheel nothing of significance has happened to mice. But now going by Microsoft's report, we'll soon see Mouse 2.0. Wondering what's that? Well, in simple terms a new generation mouse will support integrated touch and multi-touch computing.

At the User Interfance Software and Technology Conference in Canada, the software behemoth displayed five new generation mice.

The first one is the Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR), with a curved sheet of acrylic "edge-lit" and infrared light. The light scatters at the touch of a finger, and is recorded by an IR camera.

The next in line is an Orb Mouse with support for multi-touch sensing. It uses an IR-sensitive camera and an internal source of IR illumination. Rather than sensing movement via scattered light, the camera picks up on light reflected back from finger tips.

The third one is the Capacitive Mouse, which as the name suggest incorporates capacitive-sensing electrodes that track the location of the user's touch.

Fourth one is the Side Mouse, which senses the user's fingers as they touch the table surface. Best thing about this device is its ability to create a multi-touch area that is not restricted to the physical surface of the device.

The Arty Mouse is the fifth and final mouse. It sports a weird design, that of a crab with buttons on each "claw".

Check out official Microsoft demonstration video here.

[via Tom's Hardware]