Did you know that computer keyboards can contain up to five times the amount of bacteria as toilet seats? That notion freaks me out. I mean more than a toilet seat?! Gross! That’s just scary seeing as a good 40 percent, if not more, of our day is spent typing on a keyboard and not sitting on the toilet. Gizmag pointed out a rather important point about nurses and doctors. When they’re using keypads and then sticking things down your throat or handing you meds to swallow they had better be using gloves. So this is a necessity to deal with and thus like the saying goes a ‘mother’ of an invention came to be. Enter – the Germ Genie. It’s a simple device that’s placed over your keyboard, doesn’t seem to get in the way (from what I see in the picture) and shines a UV light (Germ Kryptonite) on the keypad to wipe out the germs.

What makes it even more interesting is that it has a sensor that tells it that you’ve stopped typing so it switches on to deal with the yucky germs before you start typing again. The moment you put your hands under the light, onto the keyboard, the light automatically switches off. This is perfect since UV light is not the skin’s best friend. Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire tested the Germ Genie and found that it actually killed 99 percent of the germs across most of the keyboard in two minutes and across the whole keyboard in 10 minutes. The Germ Genie is available through the Falcon Innovations website, and priced at about US $222. That may seem a bit steep but can you afford to be without it?

Gizmag