Alternatives to the computermouse

摘要

Today the era of open controllers based on international standards in hard- and software has begun. To bring up cost effective solutions those standards are more and more influenced by PC-world. But problems are evident, associated with the PC-world is the WINDOWS-operating system. The WINDOWS- and other WINDOWS-like systems are designed to use interactive communication techniques, e.g. drag-and-drop, virtual sliders and rulers, that require a mouse or equivalent as a pointing and navigation device for cursor positioning. Furthermore, the WINDOWS-operating system offers a freedom of design wich may be desirable for user-driven bureau applications but surely not for industrial applications. Therefore, research is needed to bring up guidelines for the developers wich clearly indicate wich communication techniques for a certain application are advisable and how to implement these. Test were conducted with machine operators under industrial environments to determine the suitability of different pointing devices like mouse, joystick, trackball, touchscreen, touchpad.