A touchpad is a device that translates finger movements into cursor movements on a computer. It has sensors that respond to finger movements and can be found in laptops, PDAs, and portable media players. Touchpads can also be programmed to have “hot spots” for commonly used functions. They were developed in the late 1980s and quickly became popular in laptops. Touchpad technology is also used for drawing tablets and motion-sensitive pads for recognizing handwriting.
A touchpad is a device designed to translate user input in the form of movements to move a cursor on a computer. It works much like a mouse, allowing users to move a cursor to select items and perform other functions, but it’s designed differently. Instead of using sensors and a roller or laser like a mouse, a touchpad is a soft pad with sensors that respond to finger movements on the pad. Because a touchpad doesn’t require desk space, it can commonly be found built into laptops, personal digital assistants, and portable media players. For users who prefer the touchpad interface, touchpads are also available for desktop computers.
Beneath the touchpad’s soft skin, there is a series of sensors that create an electric field. The finger changes the character of the electric field, allowing the user to drag a cursor across the screen. Most touchpads have mouse buttons that allow the user to click on objects, while others interpret taps on the touchpad as taps of a mouse button. A tap and drag can be used to select an item, for example. The commands that the touchpad recognizes are all configurable, depending on the user’s needs.
In addition to the basic mouse-like function provided by a touchpad, it can also be programmed to have “hot spots.” When the user touches one of these points, it can be used to scroll through a document, open a frequently used program, or perform other commonly used functions. Preferences for these zones can be changed in Touchpad Preferences, which also includes Sensitivity preferences. Most manufacturers also include protectors with their touchpads, so they don’t respond to being swiped with a palm or anything other than a finger.
Computer manufacturers began developing touchpads in the late 1980s, and in the mid-1990s, several laptops with a touchpad design were released. The touchpad was a vast improvement over the trackballs or nubbin pointers included in laptops previously and quickly began to dominate the laptop market. Sensing the potential for other markets, companies have also developed products such as drawing tablets, which translate “drawing” with a specialized pen on the tablet into art on the screen, and this technology is also being used for tablets, which are capable of recognize handwriting on the motion-sensitive pad.
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