The good news is you can 3D print your own trackpad. The bad news_ It's called the Ploopy

If you've ever wanted to add a trackpad to your PC, a company named Ploopy has come out with a very retro-looking design, and it's entirely open-source. This level of transparency means you can build your own from scratch, if you have the time and a 3D printer.

If the Ploopy name is tinkling some bells at the back of your mind, that may be because it was responsible for the we [[link]] covered just last year, and now it's selling a 3D printable trackpad () you can plug into any PC's USB.

If you've ever used a trackpad to play a shooter, you might be wondering why anyone would actually bother making one. Other than just "Why not?", a good answer is for drawing and productivity, and potentially mobility, too.

With a trackpad, not only can you use it for intuitive control in video and image production suites, but you can hook it up to a drawing app and use it to illustrate images. You can use a trackpad as you would a standard mouse or duplicate the placement of your screen so touching the corner of the pad [[link]] hits the corner of the screen.

The reason you might want to replicate your screen in such a fashion is that you can map where you draw directly in your drawing program. This allows for a level of precision that is much tougher to get in even the .

If you would like to make your own, you can 3D print the parts for the trackpad via Ploopy's , where you can then , or you can go to . Here, you can and assemble it yourself for $100 CAD or buy it for $130 CAD. In both instances, you can select its colour, from black or grey, and don't need a 3D printer.

The biggest reason to buy from the store, rather than printing it yourself (outside of convenience) is that the kit comes with a stylus you can use on the trackpad too. This stylus doesn't appear to be in the 3D printing instructions, which is a shame because you can rather smartly tuck the stylus into the trackpad when you are done with it.

Ploopy is a very retro company, making , the aforementioned pad and headphones, and a standalone . This is a lot of effort for such an old-fashioned device but part of its charm is just how strange and unique it is.

If you're looking for a fun project, and you're a little bit of a geek (like me), this feels like a great way to spend a Tuesday night. If you're on the hunt for a trackpad to use on your PC, even better.