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The Mouse That Runs Anywhere

THE TECH To calculate their position, most mice use a red LED or a laser to light up a surface, take thousands of pictures per second of the shadows cast by the surface’s microscopic bumps, and then analyze the differences between shots. But that doesn’t work if there are no bumps, as on glossy tables, or if a jagged surface, like carpet, traps narrow light beams between fibers. So Microsoft’s Explorer moves the camera sensor forward to capture the light reflected by any surface.