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Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket
containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axeslike an
upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball.[1] The user rolls the
ball to position the on-screen pointer, using their thumb, fingers, or
commonly the palm of the hand while using the fingertips to press the
mouse buttons.
Large trackballs are common on CAD workstations for easy precision. Before the advent of the touchpad, small trackballs
were common on portable computers, where there may be no desk space on which to run a mouse. Some small
"thumbballs" are designed to clip onto the side of the keyboard and have integral buttons with the same function as mouse
buttons.
Contents
1 History
2 Special applications
3 Ergonomics
4 Mobile phones
5 On mice
6 References
7 Notes
History
The trackball was invented as part of a post-World War II-era radar plotting system named Comprehensive Display
System (CDS) by Ralph Benjamin when working for the British Royal Navy Scientific Service.[2][3] Benjamin's project used
analog computers to calculate the future position of target aircraft based on several initial input points provided by a user
with a joystick. Benjamin felt that a more elegant input device was needed and invented a ball tracker[2][3] system called
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the roller ball[2] for this purpose in 1946.[2][3] The device was patented in 1947,[2] but only a prototype using a metal ball
rolling on two rubber-coated wheels was ever built[3] and the device was kept as a military secret.[3] Production versions of
the CDS used joysticks.
The CDS system had also been viewed by a number of engineers from Ferranti Canada, who returned to Canada and began
development of the Royal Canadian Navy's DATAR system in 1952. Designed primarily by Tom Cranston, Fred Longstaff
and Kenyon Taylor, the chose the trackball as the primary input, using a standard five-pin bowling ball as the roller.
DATAR was similar in concept to Benjamin's display, but used a digital computer to calculate tracks, and sent the
resulting data to other ships in a task force using pulse-code modulation radio signals.[4]
DATAR's trackball used four disks to pick up motion, two each for the X and Y
directions. Several rollers provided mechanical support. When the ball was rolled,
the pickup discs spun and contacts on their outer rim made periodic contact with
wires, producing pulses of output with each movement of the ball. By counting the
pulses, the physical movement of the ball could be determined.
In later trackball models the electrical contacts were replaced by a "chopper wheel" which had small slots cut into it in the
same locations as the contacts. An LED shone light through the slots to an optical sensor, As the disk rotated the slots
alternately lined up and then blocked the light from the LED, causing pulses to be produced in the sensor. The operation
was otherwise similar.
Mice used the same basic system for determining motion, but had the problem that the ball was in contact with the desk or
mousepad. In order to provide smooth motion the balls were often covered with an anti-slip surface treatment, which was,
by design, sticky. Rolling the mouse tended to pick up any dirt and drag it into the system where it would clog the chopper
wheels, demanding cleanup. In contrast the trackball is in contact only with the user's hand, which tends to be cleaner. In
the late 1990s both mice and trackballs began using direct optical tracking which follows dots on the ball, avoiding the
need for anti-slip surface treatment.
As with modern mice, most trackballs now have an auxiliary device primarily intended for scrolling. Some have a scroll
wheel like most mice, but the most common type is a scroll ring which is spun around the ball. Kensington's SlimBlade
Trackball similarly tracks the ball itself in three dimensions for scrolling.
As of 2013 two major companies produce consumer trackballs, Logitech and Kensington, although Logitech has narrowed
its product line to two models. Other smaller companies occasionally offer a trackball in their product line. Microsoft
produced popular models including The Microsoft Trackball Explorer, but has since discontinued all of its products.
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In September 2017 Logitech announced release of MX-Ergo Gaming Mouse,[9] which was released after 6 years of its last
trackball mouse.
Special applications
Large trackballs are sometimes seen on computerized special-purpose
workstations, such as the radar consoles in an air-traffic control room or sonar
equipment on a ship or submarine. Modern installations of such equipment
may use mice instead, since most people now already know how to use one.
However, military mobile anti-aircraft radars, commercial airliners (such as
Airbus A380) and submarine sonars tend to continue using trackballs, since
they can be made more durable and more fit for fast emergency use. Large and
well made ones allow easier high precision work, for which reason they may
still be used in these applications (where they are often called "tracker balls")
and in computer-aided design.
Logitech Cordless TrackMan Wheel.
Computer gamers have been able to successfully use trackballs in most modern computer games, including FPS, RPG, and
RTS genres, with any slight loss of speed compensated for with an increase in precision. Many trackball gamers are
competent at "throwing" their cursor rapidly across the screen, by spinning the trackball, enabling (with practice) much
faster motion than can be achieved with a ball-less mouse and arm motion. However, many gamers are deterred by the
time it takes to 'get used to' the different style of hand control that a trackball requires. Trackballs have also been regarded
as excellent complements to analog joysticks, as pioneered by the Assassin 3D 1996 trackball with joystick pass-through
capability. This combination provides for two-hand aiming and a high accuracy and consistency replacement for the
traditional mouse and keyboard combo generally used on first-person shooter games. Many such games natively support
joysticks and analog player movement, like Valve's Half-Life and id Software's Quake series.
Trackballs are provided as the pointing device in some public internet access terminals. Unlike a mouse, a trackball can
easily be built into a console, and cannot be ripped away or easily vandalised. Two examples are the Internet browsing
consoles provided in some UK McDonald's outlets, and the BT Broadband Internet public phone boxes. This simplicity
and ruggedness also makes them ideal for use in industrial computers.
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Because trackballs for personal computers are stationary, they may require less space for operation than a mouse, and
may simplify use in confined or cluttered areas such as a small desk or a rack-mounted terminal. They are generally
preferred in laboratory setting for the same reason.
An advantage of the trackball is that it takes less space to move than a mouse. A trackball was often included in laptop
computers, but since the late 1990s these have switched to track pads. Track balls can still be used as separate input
devices with standard desktop computers but this application is also moving to trackpads due to the prevalence of multi
touch gesture control in new desktop operating systems.[11]
Ergonomics
People with a mobility impairment use trackballs as an assistive technology
input device. Access to an alternative pointing device has become even more
important for them with the dominance of graphically-oriented operating
systems. There are many alternative systems to be considered. The control
surface of a trackball is easier to manipulate and the buttons can be activated
without affecting the pointer position.[12]
Trackball users also often state that they are not limited to using the device on
a flat desk surface. Trackballs can be used whilst browsing a laptop in bed, or Logitech TrackMan Marble Wheel.
wirelessly from an armchair to a PC playing a movie. They are also useful for
computing on boats or other unstable platforms where a rolling deck could
produce undesirable input.
Trackballs are generally either thumb-operated, with a ball about an inch in diameter or smaller moved by one digit
(almost always the thumb) and the buttons clicked by others, or finger-operated, with a ball over two inches in diameter
operated by the middle fingers and the buttons by the thumb and little finger. Users favour one format or another for
reasons of comfort, mobility, precision, or because it reduces strain on one part of the hand/wrist. Most, but not all,[13]
finger-operated designs are symmetrical in design, making them usable by both hands, while thumb-operated designs are
by their nature asymmetric or handed, allowing the smallest examples to be held in the air. Thumb-operated trackballs
are not generally available in left-handed configurations, due to small demand.
Some computer users prefer a trackball over the more common mouse for ergonomic reasons. There seems to be no
conclusive evidence from studies performed to determine which type of pointing device works best for most applications.
Application users are encouraged to test different devices, and to maintain proper posture and scheduled breaks for
comfort. Some disabled users find trackballs easier since they only have to move their thumb relative to their hand,
instead of moving the whole hand, while others incur unacceptable fatigue of the thumb. Elderly people sometimes have
difficulty holding a mouse still while double-clicking; the trackball allows them to let go of the ball while using the button.
At times when a user is browsing menus or websites rather than typing, it is also possible to hold a trackball in the right
hand like a television remote control, operating the ball with the right thumb and pressing the buttons with the left thumb,
thus giving the fingers a rest.[14]
Mobile phones
Some mobile phones have trackballs, including those in the BlackBerry range, the T-Mobile Sidekick 3, and many early
HTC smartphones. These miniature trackballs are made to fit within the thickness of a mobile device, and are controlled
by the tip of a finger or thumb. These have mostly been replaced on smartphones by touch screens.
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On mice
In lieu of a scroll wheel, some mice include a tiny trackball sometimes called a scroll ball. A popular example is Apple's
Mighty Mouse.
References
1. "The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: Track Ball". Next Generation. No. 15. Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 42.
2. Hill, Peter C. J. (2005-09-16). "RALPH BENJAMIN: An Interview Conducted by Peter C. J. Hill" (http://www.ieeeghn.or
g/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Ralph_Benjamin) (Interview). Interview #465. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
3. Copping, Jasper (2013-07-11). "Briton: 'I invented the computer mouse 20 years before the Americans' " (http://www.t
elegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10174366/Briton-I-invented-the-computer-mouse-20-years-before-the-Americans.ht
ml). The Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
4. Vardalas, John (1994). "From DATAR To The FP-6000 Computer: Technological Change In A Canadian Industrial
Context" (http://ewh.ieee.org/reg/7/millennium/fp6000/fp6000_datar.html). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.
No. 2. IEEE. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
5. "Auf den Spuren der deutschen Computermaus" (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Auf-den-Spuren-der-deutschen-Co
mputermaus--/meldung/136901) [In the footsteps of the German computer mouse] (in German). Heise Verlag. 2009-
04-28. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
6. "ORBIT X-Y Ball Tracker" (http://www.oldmouse.com/trackball/orbit.shtml). oldmouse.com. Retrieved 2013-08-03.
7. "SIG-100 video terminal and mouse" (http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/input-output/14/346/1874).
8. "Telefunken's 'Rollkugel' " (http://www.oldmouse.com/mouse/misc/telefunken.shtml). oldmouse.com.
9. "Gaming Mouse that goes across multiple systems: Logitech's MX-Ergo Trackball Mouse" (https://www.techscoop.in/2
017/09/gaming-mouse-that-goes-across-multiple.html).
10. "The Pippin Atmark". GamePro. No. 94. IDG. July 1996. p. 22.
11. "Apple Magic Trackpad Review" (https://www.engadget.com/2010/07/30/apple-magic-trackpad-review/).
12. Dennis van der Heijden (2006-03-15). "Alternative Pointing Systems for Mobility Impaired People" (http://www.axistiv
e.com/alternative-pointing-systems-for-mobility-impaired-people.html). Axistive.
13. For example, the Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan (https://web.archive.org/web/20090916025144/http://www.logit
ech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/trackballs/devices/189&cl=US,EN) is finger-operated but asymmetric.
14. Center for Disease Control web page about computer ergonomics (https://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/Ergonomics/comperg
o.htm#MOUSE,%20TRACKBALL,%20OR%20OTHER%20INPUT%20DEVICE)
Notes
This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the
"relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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