INTERACTION DEVICES Lori Stringer

INTERACTION DEVICES Interaction devices involve physical actions of dragging, clicking, typing, speaking, writing, etc... Devices should be easy to use.

GOALS OF INTERACTION DEVICES Increase performance speed Reduce error rates of users

HISTORY OF INTERACTION DEVICES Sharp Rocks Chalk Papyrus and Paper Ink Quills and Fountain Pens Pencils Ballpoint Pens Typewriters

Sharp Rocks The all-purpose tool for the cave man; good for killing, skinning, and making drawings on the cave wall.

Chalk “A soft, earthy substance, of a white, grayish, or yellowish color, consisting of calcium carbonate, and having the same composition as common limestone.”

Papyrus and Paper Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and Hebrews used papyrus. Wood-fiber paper was invented by the Chinese in 105 A.D. “Paper was not widely used throughout Europe until paper mills were built in the late 14 th century.”

Ink Invented by the Chinese, it was originally made of soot and lamp oil mixed with the gelatin of donkey skin and musk. Other mixtures included: dyes and colors from berries, plants, and minerals. By 400 A.D. Ink was uniformly made of iron- salts, nutgalls, and gum.

Quills and Fountain Pens Quills were introduced around 700 A.D. Goose feathers were the most common Lasted only one week The oldest fountain pen has survived since 1702, but the first practical pen wasn’t patented until Lewis Waterman came along in 1884.

Pencils The process to make pencils was patented in 1795 by a French chemist named Nicolas Conte. “He used a mixture of clay and graphite that was fired before it was put in a wooden case.” Since the mixture was fired in a kiln, you could control the hardness. The name pencil comes “from the old English word meaning ‘brush’.”

Ballpoint Pens Invented by two Hungarian brothers (Ladislo Biro and George Biro) in Today the “Bic Crystal has a daily world wide sales figure of 14,000,000 pieces.” Today much of the world still refers to these pens as Biros

Typewriters Invented in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes. The first one was more like a telegraph instrument, it did not have keys. Sholes later added them. Remington & Sons started production on them in 1874.

CURRENT INTERACTION DEVICES Keyboard Mouse Trackball Touchpad/Trackpad Pointing Stick Joystick Wheel Light Pen Touch Screen Stylus Graphic Tablet Tablet PC Voice Recognition Handwriting Recognition

Types of Keyboards QWERTY DVORAK Enhanced Cordless Ergonomic

Keyboard Facts QWERTY: standard keyboard. The fist six leftmost letters on the top alphabetic line spell QWERTY Enhanced: Most commonly used today. These keyboards have twelve function keys along the top, 2 CTRL keys, 2 ALT keys, arrows, etc.

Keyboard Facts II Cordless: a battery-powered device that transmits data using wireless technology, such as radio waves or infrared waves. Ergonomic: this keyboard is specially designed to reduce the chance of wrist injuries.

QWERTY

ENHANCED KEYBOARD

ERGONOMIC KEYBOARD

Pointing Devices Pointing device: an input device that allows you to control a pointer on the screen They are generally fast and easy to use, but require hand-eye coordination

Types of Pointing Devices Mouse Trackball Touchpad/Trackpad Pointing Stick Joy Stick/Wheel Light Pen Touch Screen Stylus

Mouse Invented by Doug Englebart in Most used pointing device for desktop computers

Types of Mice Mechanical Mouse: has a rubber or metal ball on the bottom. The motion of the ball controls the motion of the pointer. This type should be used on a mouse pad. Optical Mouse: has no moving mechanical parts inside. It uses optical sensors or lasers that emit and sense light to detect the mouse’s movement. The type often requires a special mouse pad.

Trackball Stationary pointing device with a ball on top,(upside down mouse) To move the pointer you rotate the ball Requires frequent cleaning because of oil and dust Benefit: you don’t have to move the entire device, so it takes up less space

Touchpad/Trackpad Small, flat, rectangular device that is sensitive to pressure and motion You move the pointer by sliding your finger around You tap the pad to initiate a “click” Most often found on notebook computers

Pointing Stick Pressure sensitive device shaped like a pencil eraser that is positioned between keys on the keyboard. First developed by IBM for their notebook computers

Joystick & Wheel These devices are used for game software or flight and driving software. The name joystick comes from early history in aircraft control. Joystick: a vertical lever mounted on a base. It is easily moved in multiple directions. Wheel: a steering-wheel type device used in auto simulation games

Light Pen A handheld device that contains a light source or can detect light. Some require specially designed monitors. One problem is hand fatigue.

Touch Screen A touch sensitive display you interact with by touching areas of the screen with your fingers Examples: Kiosks (Wal-Mart automotive department) and ATM machines

Stylus Looks like a ballpoint pen. It uses pressure to write and draw lines. Original names were: “electronic pen” or “e-pen”

Other Interaction Devices Graphic Tablet Tablet PC Voice Recognition Handwriting Recognition

Graphic Tablet It is a flat, rectangular electronic plastic board Also called a “digitizer” or “digitizing tablet” Used along with a stylus One use: architects, map makers, artists, and designers create drawings and sketches using it

Tablet PC Weighs around 3 lbs. Uses a digital pen Microsoft version uses Windows XP Professional It has handwriting and voice recognition capabilities – Take notes and save them – Convert handwritten documents into typed documents

Voice Recognition Voice recognition: a computer’s capability of distinguishing spoken words. You speak into a microphone and the words display on the screen. You can also edit and format a document by speaking or spelling instructions.

Handwriting Recognition Process by which handwritten letters and symbols are translated into characters that the computer understands. Used by many notebook computers and handheld computers. Requires the use of a stylus.

Problems One problem with keyboards is that the keys are so close together you often hit the wrong key. Fast typists are slowed down because of the need to switch between the mouse and the keyboard. Most of these devices are for your hands and can cause fatigue and other long term health problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Future In the future devices may be: – Very small – Embedded in the environment, in other words all around us – Rely more on voice command instead of mice and other input devices

References ture10.ppt Shelly, Cashman, Vermaat. Discovering Computers: Concepts for a Digital World. United States: Thomson Learning, 2001.