An input device is a hardware mechanism that transforms information in the external world for consumption by a computer. Often, input devices are under direct control by a human user, who uses them to communicate commands or other information to be processed by the computer, which may then transmit feedback to the user through an output device. Input and output devices together make up the hardware interface between a computer and the user or external world. Typical examples of input devices include keyboards and mice. However, there are others which provide many more degrees of freedom. In general, any sensor which monitors, scans for and accepts information from the external world can be considered an input device, whether or not the information is under the direct control of a user. For other uses, see Hardware (disambiguation). ... An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the outside world. ... A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... A contemporary computer mouse, with the most common standard features: two buttons and a scroll wheel. ... Not to be confused with censure, censer, or censor. ...

History B9 BRAP

A definition of an input device was already included within the von Neumann architecture in 1945, however conception of an architecture including similar devices designed for input only appear since 1936. The von Neumann architecture describes a device designed for inserting user data, which are separated from the algorithm data and code. These devices included a keyboard or a punched card. Design of the Von Neumann architecture For the robotic architecture also named after Von Neumann, see Von Neumann machine The von Neumann architecture is a computer design model that uses a single storage structure to hold both instructions and data. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... A CTR census machine, utilizing a punched card system. ...

Mice were invented by Doug Engelbart in 1963. A contemporary computer mouse, with the most common standard features: two buttons and a scroll wheel. ... Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart (born January 30, 1925 in Oregon) is an American inventor of Norwegian descent. ...

Classification

Many input devices can be classified according to:-

• the modality of input (e.g. mechanical motion, audio, visual, sound, etc.)
• whether the input is discrete (e.g. keypresses) or continuous (e.g. a mouse's position, though digitized into a discrete quantity, is high-resolution enough to be thought of as continuous)
• the number of degrees of freedom involved (e.g. many mice allow 2D positional input, but some devices allow 3D input, such as the Logitech Magellan Space Mouse)

Pointing devices, which are input devices used to specify a position in space, can further be classified according to

• Whether the input is direct or indirect. With direct input, the input space coincides with the display space, i.e. pointing is done in the space where visual feedback or the cursor appears. Touchscreens and light pens involve direct input. Examples involving indirect input include the mouse and trackball.
• Whether the positional information is absolute (e.g. on a touch screen) or relative (e.g. with a mouse that can be lifted and repositioned)

Note that direct input is almost necessarily absolute, but indirect input may be either absolute or relative. For example, digitizing graphics tablets that do not have an embedded screen involve indirect input, and sense absolute positions and are often run in an absolute input mode, but they may also be setup to simulate a relative input mode where the stylus or puck can be lifted and repositioned. A blinking text cursor. ... Touchscreens are display overlays which have the ability to display and receive information on the same screen. ... A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with the computers CRT monitor. ... Logitech TrackMan A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. ... A Wacom Graphire4 graphics tablet. ...

Early devices

• Unit record equipment
• punched card

Before the advent of electronic computers, data processing was performed using electromechanical devices called unit record equipment, electric accounting machines (EAM) or tabulating machines. ... A CTR census machine, utilizing a punched card system. ...

Keyboards

Main article: Computer keyboard

Examples of types of keyboards include A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ...

• Computer keyboard
• Keyer
• Chorded keyboard
• LPFK

Issues and techniques related to keyboards include A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Keyer for wearable computer designed and built for making lightvector paintings. ... A Microwriter MW4 (circa 1980) A chorded keyboard (also called a chord keyboard or chording keyboard) is a computer input device that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by pressing several keys together, like playing a chord on a piano. ... The Lighted Program Function Keyboard (LPFK) is a computer input device manufactured by I.B.M. that presents an array of buttons associated with lights. ...

• Keyboard shortcut
• Command history
• Autocomplete
• Autoreplace
• Intellisense
• ShapeWriter
• Chinese input methods for computers

A keyboard shortcut (also known as an accelerator key, shortcut key, or hotkey) is one or a set of keyboard keys that, when pressed simultaneously, perform a predefined task. ... Command history is a common feature in command line interface, such as in operating system shells, computer algebra programs and other software that interact with the user through a command line. ... Autocomplete is a feature provided by many source code text editors, word processors, and web browsers. ... Autoreplace or AutoCorrect is a feature in some text editors, word processors and other programs that accept user input via keyboard. ... Screenshot of IntelliSense in Visual C++ IntelliSense™ is a form of automated autocompletion popularized by the Microsoft Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment. ... ShapeWriter (previously known as Shorthand-Aided Rapid Keyboarding (SHARK)), is a keyboard text input method for tablet, handheld PCs, and mobile phones invented by Shumin Zhai and Per Ola Kristensson at IBM Almaden Research Center and the Department of Computer and Information Science at Linköping University. ... Since the Chinese language uses a logographic script — that is, a script where one or two characters corresponds roughly to one word or meaning — there are vastly more characters, or glyphs, than there are keys on a standard computer keyboard. ...

Pointing devices

An Apple pro mouse

Touchpad and a pointing stick on an IBM Laptop

A pointing device is any computer hardware component (specifically human interface device) that allows a user to input spatial (ie, continuous and multi-dimensional) data to a computer. CAD systems and graphical user interfaces (GUI) allow the user to control and provide data to the computer using physical gestures - point, click, and drag - typically by moving a hand-held mouse across the surface of the physical desktop and activating switches on the mouse. Movements of the pointing device are echoed on the screen by movements of the mouse pointer (or cursor) and other visual changes. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A contemporary computer mouse, with the most common standard features: two buttons and a scroll wheel. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Touchpad and a pointing stick on an IBM Laptop Low resolution close up of a touchpad with a locking button. ... This article is about a computer input device. ... Computer hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. ... It has been suggested that 3D motion controller be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the machine. ... CAD is a TLA that may stand for: Cadiz Railroad (AAR reporting mark CAD) Canadian dollar – ISO 4217-code Capital Adequacy Directive Card Acceptance Device Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty Computer-aided design Computer-aided detection (medical) Computer-aided diagnosis (medical) Computer-assisted dispatch Computer-assisted drafting Coronary artery disease... GUI redirects here. ... A spiral mouse gesture in the computer game Black and White. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... A blinking text cursor. ...

While the most common pointing device by far is the mouse, many more devices have been developed. However, mouse is commonly used as a metaphor for devices that move the cursor. Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ...

For most pointing devices, Fitts' law can be used to predict the speed with which users can point at a given target position. In ergonomics, Fitts law is a model of human movement, predicting the time required to rapidly move from a starting position to a final target area, as a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target. ...

Examples of common pointing devices include

• mouse
• trackball
• touchpad
• spaceBall - 6 degrees-of-freedom controller
• touchscreen
• graphics tablets (or digitizing tablet) that use a stylus
• light pen
• light gun
• eye tracking devices
• steering wheel - can be thought of as a 1D pointing device
• yoke (aircraft)
• jog dial - another 1D pointing device
• isotonic joysticks - where the user can freely change the position of the stick, with more or less constant force
  • joystick
  • analog stick
• isometric joysticks - where the user controls the stick by varying the amount of force they push with, and the position of the stick remains more or less constant
  • pointing stick
• discrete pointing devices
  • directional pad - a very simple keyboard
  • dance pad - used to point at gross locations in space with feet

Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... Logitech TrackMan A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. ... Touchpad and a pointing stick on an IBM Laptop Low resolution close up of a touchpad with a locking button. ... SpaceBall is a 6 degrees of freedom input device developed by 3DConnexion. ... Touchscreens are display overlays which have the ability to display and receive information on the same screen. ... A Wacom Graphire4 graphics tablet. ... For the online music and film magazine, see Stylus Magazine. ... A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with the computers CRT monitor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Eye tracker be merged into this article or section. ... A modern road cars steering wheel Steering wheels from different periods A steering wheel is a type of steering control used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles. ... The control yoke of a Boeing 737 aircraft. ... A jog dial, jog wheel, shuttle dial, or shuttle wheel is a type of knob, ring, wheel, or dial which allows the user to shuttle or jog through audio or video media. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... An analog stick from the Nintendo GameCube game controller An analog stick, sometimes called thumbstick, often mistakenly referred to as a joystick, is an input device for a controller (often a game controller) that is used for two-dimensional input. ... This article is about a computer input device. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... It has been suggested that Dance Pad Games be merged into this article or section. ...

High-degree of freedom input devices

Some devices allow many continuous degrees of freedom to be input, and could sometimes be used as pointing devices, but could also be used in other ways that don't conceptually involve pointing at a location in space.

• Wired glove
• ShapeTape: [1]
• Some haptic devices

A wired glove is a glove-like input device for virtual reality environments. ... This article is about haptic technology. ...

Composite devices

Wii Remote with attached strap

Input devices, such as buttons and joysticks, can be combined on a single physical device that could be thought of as a composite device. Many gaming devices have controllers like this. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2109x1605, 1868 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Wii Remote Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2109x1605, 1868 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Wii Remote Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... The Wii Remote, sometimes nicknamed Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendos Wii console. ... Namcos Pac-Man is one of the most popular video games ever made. ...

• Game controller
• Gamepad (or joypad)
• Paddle (game controller)
• Wii Remote

A game controller is an input device used to control a video game. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. ... The Wii Remote, sometimes nicknamed Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendos Wii console. ...

Imaging and Video input devices

• Webcam
• Image scanner
• Fingerprint scanner
• Barcode reader
• 3D scanner
  • laser range-finder
• medical imaging sensor technology
  • Computed tomography
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • Positron emission tomography
  • Medical ultrasonography

For other uses, see Video (disambiguation). ... A typical webcam Webcams are small cameras, (usually, though not always, video cameras) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video conferencing application. ... In computing, a scanner is a device that analyzes images, printed text, or handwriting, or an object (such as an ornament) and converts it to a digital image. ... At Walt Disney World, biometric measurements are taken from the fingers of guests to ensure that the persons ticket is used by the same person from day to day For the use of statistics in biology, see Biostatistics. ... A typical barcode scanner. ... A 3D scanner is a device that analyzes a real-world object or environment to collect data on its shape and possibly its appearance (i. ... A laser range-finder is a device which uses a laser beam in order to determine the distance to a reflective object. ... negron305 Cat scan redirects here. ... MRI redirects here. ... Image of a typical positron emission tomography (PET) facility Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body. ... Sonography redirects here. ...

Audio input devices

• Microphone
• Speech recognition