In 1994, a revolutionary ergonomic mouse was invented and patented by Jack Lo due to discomfort he had when using a conventional mouse. His invention was the first mouse to support a hand in a fully upright handshake position for eliminating the arm twisting required by ordinary mice.

Years of effort in trying to license the invention to several of the largest mouse companies only resulted in rejections.

A firm belief in the idea compelled Jack and Ping to exhibit a slightly more developed prototype at Comdex 2001 in Las Vegas. The highly enthusiastic public response encouraged him to manufacture and distribute the mouse himself.

Funded only by his own savings, Jack had to do everything himself, including creating the industrial design, package design, web site, brochures, ads, etc. He went to Asia and found a contract manufacturer to produce the mouse.

Many months of collaborative work with the factory culminated in the release of the first Evoluent VerticalMouse in late 2002. After product introduction,Jack handled PR, sales and tech support while Ping processed and shipped the orders.

The VerticalMouse received many raving press reviews, but sales grew slowly due to a lack of distribution. The products stored in Jack’s home seemed like an immovable mountain in the early days.

In 2004, Jack designed and released the Evoluent VerticalMouse 2. It provided improved button response, pointer response, styling, fit and finish, but it was difficult to produce.

To ensure the quality of his product and provide a satisfying experience to users, Jack helped solve production problems and personally inspected every piece made at the factory.He continued to answered sales and tech support emails.

User response to both models far exceeded expectations. Many people said the VerticalMouse cured their hand, wrist, or arm pain and they will never go back to ordinary mice. The rate of product return for dissatisfaction was almost zero. See these user comments here and various product review web sites for additional user comments.

Continuing product development

Jack continues to pursue his goal of popularizing the VerticalMouse, and hopefully help more people cure and prevent mouse injuries. He continues to develop more products with the philosophy that his products must be different from all the me-too products and provide real benefits.