Calvin Chu and Ashish Bidadi, both 2013 mechatronics engineering graduates, are using old technology - buttons, dials and sliders - to make it easier and faster to use computers.
And, according to an article in the À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Region Record, a lot of people think they're taking their startup, Palette, in the right direction. Chu and Bidadi recently raised $158,470 on the , far exceeding their $100,000 goal.
They developed a set of modules - dials, buttons, sliders and faders - that are joined together and linked to computers with a USB cable. After downloading the Palette app, any repetitive task on the Mac OS X, Windows and Linux operating systems can be remapped.
What used to take several movements of a mouse and lots of clicks, can now be done with the push a button or the twist of a dial.
"I have always been interested in human-computer interaction, the way we interface with technology," Chu said.
In addition to Palette, À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Engineering's mechatronics program that combines mechanical, electrical and software engineering has produced some high profile local tech startups including Thalmic, Clearpath Robotics and BufferBox. []