Trackball

A trackball (also trackball German trackball ) is an input device consisting of a housing, to which a ball is mounted, which is moved with the fingers. In the housing optical or opto-mechanical sensors detect the movement of the ball along two axes. In the desktop area trackballs are nowadays largely equipped with the same sensors as optical mice, in the industrial sector, both techniques are used in approximately equal measure. The trackball works like a computer mouse down on his back.

Trackballs are manufactured in various designs. In a common ball which at the top end of the housing is mounted. The mouse buttons are on the left and right of the ball. This variant can be used by both right-and left-handers alike.

In the design shown in the middle picture the palm comes on a hand matched convex surface to lie. At the point on which the thumb rests, the ball is mounted, which controls the mouse pointer. At the point where the index finger and middle finger rest, there are two to four mouse buttons and a scroll wheel.

Many older laptops have built- trackball. Today, instead almost exclusively used in notebook touchpad and trackpoint.

A first further dissemination found the trackball as a management tool for arcade games like Football ( Atari, 1978), and Missile Command and Centipede (both Atari, 1980). Another well-known game Marble Madness (1984 ), where you have to control a ball on the screen.

Application ranges from Trackballs

The advantage of the trackball is that only a few fingers need to move and the hand is left standing. Therefore, it can be an alternative to using an ordinary computer mouse with health problems ( tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome). The space requirement of the trackball is only that of the device itself and thus normally less than that of a mouse that requires movement. Furthermore, it is often mentioned that one can lead a track ball more accurately than a conventional computer mouse, which can be in certain computer applications an asset.

Trackballs are often used in industrial applications and public terminals, because they are much easier to seal against mice against environmental influences and robust against vandalism. For example, trackballs from stainless steel and water - and dust-proof versions are available. The fixed installation is designed for use in harsh environments (eg in vehicles ) better than a mouse that is only connected via a cable to the system. The same is true for applications with limited or fixed textured work surface, such as the operation of radar systems, ultrasound equipment, modern mixing consoles and control systems.

In a dynamic environment (eg ship ) have Trackballs the advantage that they remain fixed in one place and not move freely and uncontrollably over the work surface.

An important help make trackballs for people with physical and / or neurological disabilities dar. trackballs for this specific purpose have been developed with very large balls, and adjustable sensitivity. For people without a hand or finger function trackballs are available for chin control. For these people, there are also modified trackball to control his tongue.