Valve boss Gabe Newell revealed the company has experimented with "tongue controllers" in a bid to discover the next fad in computer interfacing.

The Valve topdog reckons the tongue is a "pretty good way of connecting a mechanical system to your brain" and as such, flirted with the concept as a way of speeding up communication between our brains and electronic devices, reports VentureBeat.

Of course, the idea of using our tongues to do this is a bit far fetched - people aren't going to sit on public transport flobadobbling with our mouths like flowerpot men. Newell still thinks our hands are the future, although remains fairly unmoved by 'touch' as an interface.

"I don’t think tongue input is in our futures. But I do think you’ll have bands on your wrists, and you’ll be doing stuff with your hands," he said.

"If you look at the mouse and keyboard, it was stable for about 25 years. I think touch will be stable for about 10 years. I think post-touch, and we'll be stable for a really long time - for another 25 years."

Love to control
Source: Santian on Flickr

Which next-gen controller technology Valve thinks will dominate for another quarter of a century remains to be seen. I think it's safe to say the company has decided against rolling with its tongues idea, though. How about chin control Gabe?

We've seen tongue-controllers hit the market before. Earlier this year Japanese researchers pushed out an internet-enabled kissing simulator. How very hygienic. ®