![Picture](/uploads/3/8/6/6/38666613/8828950_orig.jpg)
Input Devices
An input device is any hardware device that sends data to a computer, allowing you to interact with and control the computer. The most commonly used input devices on a computer are the keyboard and mouse. However, there are dozens of other devices that can also be used to input data into the computer. Below is a full listing of different computer input devices that can be used with a computer or computing devices.
Keyboard
An input device is any hardware device that sends data to a computer, allowing you to interact with and control the computer. The most commonly used input devices on a computer are the keyboard and mouse. However, there are dozens of other devices that can also be used to input data into the computer. Below is a full listing of different computer input devices that can be used with a computer or computing devices.
- Audio conversion device
- Barcode reader
- Biometrics (e.g. fingerprint scanner)
- Business Card Reader
- Digital camera and Digital Camcorder
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- Finger (with touchscreen or Windows Touch)
- Gamepad, Joystick, Paddle, Steering wheel, and Microsoft Kinetic
- Graphics tablet
- Keyboard
- Light gun and light pen scanner
- Magnetic ink (like the ink found on checks)
- Magnetic-stripe reader
- Medical imaging devices (e.g., X-Ray, CAT Scan, and Ultrasound images)
- Microphone (using voice speech recognition or biometric verification)
- MIDI keyboard
- MICR
- Mouse, touchpad, or other pointing device
- Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
- Paddle
- Pen or Stylus
- Punch card reader
- Remote
- Scanner
- Sonar imaging devices
- Touch screen
- Video capture device
- VR helmet and gloves
- Webcam
- Yoke
Keyboard
One of the primary input devices used with a computer, the keyboard looks very similar to those found on electric typewriters, but with some additional keys.
![Picture](/uploads/3/8/6/6/38666613/992839.jpg?250)
Keyboards allow the user to input letters, numbers, and other symbols into a computer that often function as commands. For example, write an e-mail visit a Web page. The following image shows a Saitek keyboard with indicators pointing to each of the major key sections on it.
![Picture](/uploads/3/8/6/6/38666613/6909691.jpg?55)
Microphone
Sometimes abbreviated as mic, a microphone is a hardware peripheral originally invented by Emile Berliner in 1877 that allows computer users to input audio into their computers. The picture is an example of Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone - Silver Edition and an example of what a high quality computer microphone may look like.Most microphones connect to the computer using the "mic" port on the computer sound card.
Mouse
A mouse is a hardware input device that was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1963 while working at Xerox PARC, who at the time was working at the Stanford Research Institute, which was a think tank sponsored by Stanford University.
Sometimes abbreviated as mic, a microphone is a hardware peripheral originally invented by Emile Berliner in 1877 that allows computer users to input audio into their computers. The picture is an example of Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone - Silver Edition and an example of what a high quality computer microphone may look like.Most microphones connect to the computer using the "mic" port on the computer sound card.
Mouse
A mouse is a hardware input device that was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1963 while working at Xerox PARC, who at the time was working at the Stanford Research Institute, which was a think tank sponsored by Stanford University.
![Picture](/uploads/3/8/6/6/38666613/286781810.jpg?250)
The mouse allows an individual to control a pointer in a graphical user interface (GUI) and manipulate on-screen objects such as icons, files, and folders. By using a mouse the user doesn't have to memorize commands, like those used in a text-based command line environment such as MS-DOS. For example, in MS-DOS a user would have to know the
cd command and dir command to navigate to a folder and view the files. However, in Windows the user only has to double-click on the folder to view all the files.
cd command and dir command to navigate to a folder and view the files. However, in Windows the user only has to double-click on the folder to view all the files.
![Picture](/uploads/3/8/6/6/38666613/224450.jpg?209)
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is a monitor or other flat surface with a sensitive panel directly on the screen that registers the touch of a finger as an input. Instead of being touch-sensitive, some touchscreens use beams across the screen to create a grid that senses the presence of a finger.
A touchscreen is a monitor or other flat surface with a sensitive panel directly on the screen that registers the touch of a finger as an input. Instead of being touch-sensitive, some touchscreens use beams across the screen to create a grid that senses the presence of a finger.