Kiwi keyboard maker deleted

A company backed by Trade Me founder Sam Morgan that made laser pointers to help disabled people control computers has gone into liquidation with no prospect of its technology being commercialised.

Opdo made the Lomak or "light operated mouse and keyboard" that let disabled people use a hand or their head to control a beam of light that fulfilled the functions of a mouse and keyboard.

The device - which sold for about $2000 - won a gold award at the 2007 International Design Excellence Awards in the United States, four months after Mr Morgan bought a third of the company.

Liquidator Meltzer Mason Heath says Opdo ran out of working capital in 2008, owing creditors $150,000.

Creditors and shareholders were invited in December to provide funds to help sell the intellectual property behind the Lomak, but none took up the offer.

Meltzer Mason Health says it is negotiating the sale of the technology for a nominal sum, so "the technology is protected for people who use it".

The Auckland University of Technology also had a small shareholding.

- © Fairfax NZ News