INPUT DEVICES (1)- keyboards, pointing and gaming devices

Concept Keyboard

A concept keyboard is a flat board that contains a grid of buttons. Each button can be programmed to do whatever you want.

Ergonomic keyboard

A keyboard that places the keys at angles that allow your wrists to assume a more natural position while you type, potentially reducing the risk of repetitive-stress injuries. An input device.

Optical mouse

A mouse that uses an internal sensor or laser to control the mouse's movement. The sensor sends signals to the computer, telling it where to move the pointer on the screen. It is an input device.

Gaming wheels

A steering wheel that simulates driving by turning the wheel. Pedals are also used with this device to simulate acceleration and the braking system of a car.

Touchpad

A type of mouse input device (most commonly found on laptop computers) with a small, rectangular, pressure-sensitive pad. You use it by moving your finger around the pad. Also called a trackpad. It is sensitive to pressure and motion.

Joystick

An input and pointing device that enables the user to control the movement of an object on the screen by operating a small lever. Mainly used for games playing and flight simulators.

Dance Mat or Dance Pad or Dance Platform

Contains a matrix of square panel sensors that a player steps on while following directions from a game

Gamepad

Game controller, held with both hands, that controls the movement and actions of players or objects in video games or computer games.

Trackball mouse

Pointing device. A mouse with a rollerball on top instead of on the bottom. Because you move the trackball with your fingers, it doesn't require much wrist motion, so it's considered healthier for your wrists than a traditional mouse. It requires less desk space. It is an input device.

Digitizing Tablet / Graphics Tablet

To digitize means to convert from analogue form (like a picture) to digital form (binary numbers). A board that can detect the position of a pointing device such as a stylus or a puck on its surface. A puck is a mouse-like device which is moved across the surface of the tablet

Touchscreen

a display device which allows the user to interact with a computer by touching areas on the screen. It is both an input and output device.

Pointing Stick

a pressure-sensitive pointing device shaped like a pencil eraser that is positioned between keys on a mobile computer keyboards.

Visual Display Unit (VDU) or Monitor

an output device that uses a display screen to present the processed information.

Virtual/ Laser/ Projection Keyboard

is projected onto any flat surface and touched. The keyboard can register your finger movement and then translate that movement into a keystroke.

QWERTY keyboard

the most common input device that uses a set of keys to put data into the computer. The most common keyboard arrangement, named for the first letters across the top row