Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice

No not those mice the other mice....

Mouse and/or Mice

The history of the mouse is rather cloudy in the minds of most. The mouse was developed as a component of a new GUI (or Graphical User Interface) for PCs. Originally, computers functioned by keywords typed in by the user. A few people at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) developed a new GUI that used pictures to represent different computer entities. In order to interact with the interface, a new device was introduced into the computer world. This device was the mouse. The first mouse was essentially the same as the one you are using right now. The mouse signals the computer when horizontal and vertical movements occur. Then, the computer simulates a moving object on the screen. The mouse interprets the movements using two methods: opto-mechanical and optical. Here are the types of mice discussed in this section if you would like to skip ahead.

Opto-mechanical | Optical | trackball

Opto-mechanical

Shown here is an opto-mechanical mouse.

Wondering what type of mouse you have attached to your computer? Well, if you are using a PC, you have a 99% chance of it being opto-mechanical. Optical mice are primarily used for Unix systems. Opto-mechanical mice operate using a few critical parts. The mouse contains a ball that moves according to the user’s horizontal and vertical movements. The ball "rolls" on two rollers that measure the movements on the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axis. The rollers contain wheels on their end, which rotate in u-shaped troughs. The wheels have small holes that allow light to be shown through by the optical sensor. The speed and patterns of the light pulses sensed by the photo sensor measure the speed and direction of the mouse. The information is then sent to the computer for processing, using the provided mouse software. 

This is the bottom and inside of an opto-mechanical mouse

Continue with the tutorial in the next section on Optical Mice.

All material and images on these pages are copyright Joseph,Ed. This page was developed for the Thinkquest1999 competition.