Mouse is an English word that means mouse. Beyond referring to the rodent (as happens with Mickey, the Disney character that does not need any introduction), the notion of mouse, in Spanish, is understood as the pointing device that allows interaction with a computer.
In general, mice are made of plastic and have a mechanism that allows them to detect the movement that the user makes in two dimensions: the X axis and the Z axis, which can be translated as lateral translation (from right to left) and forward or backward. When you move the mouse on a flat surface, this movement is reflected on the screen through a pointer, arrow or cursor.
It is worth mentioning that there is a particular learning curve when using a mouse for the first time. Young children, as in many other fields, seem to find it very easy and it is common that in a short time they surpass their elders in dexterity. However, for a person of a certain age, who has never approached technology, it is necessary to cross certain barriers.
The greatest difficulty lies in understanding that the movement carried out on a horizontal surface is translated into a screen, generally in a vertical position. On the other hand, the user must get used to lifting the mouse and repositioning it each time it reaches the limit of the desktop and wants to continue in the same direction.
In addition to transmitting movement to the screen, the mouse has a minimum of two buttons, which allow the user to select different options, which are specific to each operating system and the program that is being used. The actions that a person can perform with these keys and with the mouse are cataloged and the computer analyzes them at every moment to know how to respond; some possibilities are:
click: press any of the buttons and release it immediately, although the time it can be held down is configurable;
double click: the same as the previous case, but repeated in an adjustable time interval;
hold down;
release: the system must know the exact moment in which a button is released, since there are applications that rely on this event to execute a certain function;
drag: indicates that the mouse is moving while one of the buttons is being pressed;
Optical- type mice, on the other hand, have a sensor at the bottom, which photographs the surface on which it is located and detects variations in the position of the device.
The laser mouse, on the other hand, is the most sensitive and precise, since it has a high resolution laser instead of the optical technology light beam, and works on a greater variety of surfaces, regardless of its uniformity as well as in the two previous cases.
In recent years, various experiments have been carried out that aim to dispense with the mouse; some have been commercialized, such as the COPD neural helmet , and seek application control through the mind. On the other hand, there have been various tools for a long time to use giving commands and dictating text using the voice. Both projects have two faces, since they offer users with physical disabilities the possibility of integrating into the technological world, and they give others new ways of interacting with computers.