Florida Anesthesia Computer and Engineering Team
©
University of Florida, 1996
Input devices let users enter commands or data into the computer. Most familiar is the QWERTY keyboard. Information typed at the keyboard is manipulated by the computer program to perform a specific action or to enter text into a document. The mouse, is another input device based on either a rolling mechanical ball or some optical device in its base, and usually two buttons on top. Moving the mouse around on a flat surface causes a cursor on the display screen to move. With this "point and click" device, you can command the computer into desired action.
Other input devices include joysticks and trackballs. For clinical applications, input devices can also include various sensors that enable monitoring of pressure, temperature, or gas concentration. Speech input to the computer will become commonplace once the voice recognition algorithms make fewer errors and do not require training by the speaker.
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