Smartfish Shows Keyboard 'Eliminating' RSI

By Lisa Johnston On Feb 11 2008 - 8:00am

Smartfish Technologies, a division of Ergowex International, used last month's International CES to introduce its ergonomic computer accessories to the industry.

Developed by Dr. Jack Atzmon, who formed a partnership with the New York Hopsital for Special Surgery, the Pro:Motion keyboard is engineered to "truly eliminate risks of [repetitive stress injury] for computer users," said the company.

Smartfish initially planned to manufacture the products themselves, but after meeting with several manufacturers at CES, they found that licensing the products might be the way to go, said Alan Shafer, executive VP and chief marketing officer of Smartfish Technologies.

"We met with other keyboard manufacturers," Shafer told TWICE. "It turns out that they all want to license the product … We can probably build them for less money than [the manufacturers] can build them, so it will be win-win for everybody. If our real goal is to bring the product quickly to market as possible, maybe a company like Logitech or Microsoft would be the better person to do it."

About a dozen SKUs will be offered in the line, said Shafer, which will consist of keyboards, mice and game controllers. Prices will range from $120 to $140 for the keyboards, $60 to $80 for the mice and $80 to $99 for the game controllers.

Shafer said the company also had "other products" in the works but would not elaborate. He expects the keyboards, mice and game controllers to be available at retail in June.