The term pointing device most commonly refers to a kind of computer
input device; see that article for discussion.A "pointing device" can also refer to a special "stick" (sometimes telescopic, to reduce the length when not in use), or a lamp with a narrow light beam that is pointed at a map, blackboard, slide screen, movie screen, etc.; sometimes the light is in the form of an arrow.
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<
hardware> Any hardware component that allows a user to input spatial 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 a graphical representation of a desktop on the screen by movements of the
mouse pointer and other visual changes.
While the most common pointing device by far is a mouse, other kinds include
tracker ball,
trackpad,
lightpen, various kinds of
digitising tablets which use a stylus, and even a special "
data glove" that translates the user's movements to computer gestures.
(1997-02-03)
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