WITH the launch this week of the UK's first regional science council in the north west, the region's science and technology firms are driving forward the economy.
One such firm, Salford-based Hall Effect Technologies, is hoping to grab the limelight with a pioneering new development.
Already this year, work at the company - which has entered this year's Manchester Evening News Business of the Year Award - has won critical acclaim with a DTI Smart award for innovation. Chief executive John Fuller says the firm's latest product, to be launched this week, will be in high demand.
''We would like to think that in the future this new product would be on everybody's desk,'' he says. Using technology known as the Hall Effect, the company has devised a 4D computer mouse - similar in size to a standard mouse - which will enable people to control motion on screen in three or more dimensions.
Initially targeted at the computer games market, the company hopes to develop additional versions for business use and web surfing.
More movement
John said: ''A normal computer mouse only has two directions of movement but when you look at 3D environments such as games and internet shopping you want to be able to turn around and look up and down.
''This device allows you to do that yet it is operated just like any other computer mouse.''
Employing five permanent staff, mainly scientists, the company was founded five years ago specifically to work on technology using the Hall Effect, a way of measuring objects using magnetic fields and translating that information into electric currents.
According to John, the number of different uses for this particular type of technology holds endless possibilities.
''There are lots of places where people want to measure things in space for instance and we can do that by measuring the earth's magnetic field.''
Now the company is busy putting its latest Smart Award-winning invention through its development paces - a magnetic body scanning system that could revolutionise the X-ray procedure.
''The advantage of this invention is that it has the potential to be used at the actual scene of a trauma case.''
The company is now focusing on getting products to market and generating more funding.
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