IEEE honors SRI’s mouse and surgical robot as Milestones

IEEE has designated SRI’s computer mouse and first robotic telepresence surgery system as Milestones, recognizing two inventions that reshaped computing and minimally invasive surgery. Bronze plaques will be unveiled Nov. 13 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.

Why it matters: - IEEE Milestone status puts SRI’s mouse and telepresence surgery system in the historical record as technologies that changed how people interact with computers and how surgeons operate. - The mouse helped make graphical computing usable for ordinary users. - The telepresence surgery system helped enable minimally invasive procedures with greater precision than the human hand.

What happened: - IEEE designated two SRI achievements as IEEE Milestones: Invention of SRI’s Computer Mouse, 1961–1968, and First Robotic Telepresence Surgery System, 1987–1995. - Bronze plaques will be unveiled Nov. 13 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. - The dedication ceremony runs from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. PT. - The new plaques will become part of SRI’s nine existing IEEE Milestones. - SRI’s existing Milestones include one for Shakey, the world’s first mobile intelligent robot, and one for Douglas Engelbart’s 1968 “Mother of All Demos.”

The details: - In 1961, Douglas Engelbart set out at SRI’s Augmentation Research Center to make interactive computing both possible and efficient. - In 1963 and 1964, Engelbart and engineer Bill English built the first mouse prototype. - The prototype was a small wooden block with two perpendicular metal wheels that converted hand motion into electrical signals. - SRI filed U.S. Patent 3,541,541, “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System,” in 1967. - The mouse was a key part of Engelbart’s “Mother of All Demos” in San Francisco on Dec. 9, 1968. - Before the mouse, computer users had to master typed commands. - The mouse became a standard tool for graphical computing and helped shape modern human-computer interaction. - In 1987, an SRI team led by biomedical engineer Philip S. Green began developing the first surgeon-controlled robotic telepresence surgery system. - The system was designed to let surgeons operate from a remote console. - Its core features included stereoscopic vision, motion scaling and tremor filtering. - The telemanipulator enabled dexterous, minimally invasive procedures. - In 1995, SRI licensed the technology to Intuitive Surgical, an SRI spin-off. - The technology became the da Vinci Surgical System. - In 2000, the FDA cleared da Vinci as the first robotic system for general laparoscopic surgery. - Today, da Vinci supports complex operations, including cardiac surgery, through incisions as small as one to two centimeters.

Between the lines: - The two inventions reflect a common SRI theme: technology that extends human ability instead of replacing it. - The mouse and the surgical robot also show how research prototypes can take decades to become mainstream tools. - IEEE Milestone recognition typically marks breakthroughs that had broad technical and societal impact, which reinforces the long-term importance of both SRI projects.

What’s next: - The Bronze plaques will be formally dedicated at the Nov. 13 ceremony. - More information about the IEEE Milestones Program is available in the program’s official overview. - IEEE also directs readers to its website for more information. - SRI points readers to its website for more on the institute.

The bottom line: - IEEE is recognizing two SRI inventions that helped define the modern computing interface and transformed robotic surgery from lab concept to clinical tool.