   optical mouse signal strenght api?
  is there such an api? one that can detect signal strenght from an optical mouse? i saw this idea on using an optical mouse to create some sort of height-map like picture. would have been fun, but.. i guess there are non?
  an optical mouse is not designed for that, it sends digital displacement values to the computer, and intensity cannot be obtained. You''d have to make your own proprietary device to do that really. You can get 3D handheld scanners that let you scan objects in general by moving them over the surface. For a heightmap.. I guess you could make a mechanical device with rollers and tracks... so you just set the height at any location.. then the values are stored.. then meshed on the computer. That could probably be made without a huge amount of difficulty.. though for it to be workable/good would require a great deal of effort be put in (on the software, and hardware design/manufacture front). If you make one however, it could be the next big thing... you could become a millionaire... remember who gave you the idea first . ;  heh.. i''ll remember.. but, too bad i just wanted to create an optical mouse "camera" (would have been quite cool) 