The Evoluent Story

Early mockup and patent drawings (1994)

VM Mockup Patent

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.

Microsoft rejection letter (1994)

No Benefits

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

Another mockup and Las Vegas Comdex (2001)

VM Mockup 2 Comdex 2001

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.

Sculpting the first VerticalMouse product (2001)

Designing VM2 Designing VM2B Designing VM2C

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.

Engineering stage and production VerticalMouse (2002)

VM1-Proe VM1

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.

Rave reviews but products piled up (2002- 2004)

PC World“exceptional”
Oct 2002
TechTv
“great innovation”
Jan 2003
Mountain

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.

VerticalMouse 2 from mockup to production(2004)

VM2 Mockup VM2 Proe VM2

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.

Inspecting every mouse(2002-2006)

Factory Factory-2

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 comments on the “biomechanic benefits” of VerticalMouse

“My proximal forearm tightness has disappeared completely.”
Peter Polack, MD

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.

“In every case,the user quickly adapted to the design and reported improved comfort when using the Evoluent mouse.”
Scott Branstetter, Environmental Health and Safety Manager

“The pain went away completely.”
Laura GoodWin Kabel

Continuing product development

r-and-d r-and-d2

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.