Mechanisms To Detect Rotation
Mechanisms using relative measures of rotation: These devices are able to detect that the mouse has rotated by so many degrees, but cannot accurately identify where the rotation started or ended, increasing their tendency to lose orientation.
• 2-balls or 2-sensors
In 1989 we saw the first mention of actually rotating objects on screen by rotating the mouse, with a US patent for a cursor display apparatus, US patent number 4,887,230. This led to a succession of refinements of the 2-ball / 2-sensor mouse concept. Notable examples include:
1. Multi-dimensional input device; US 5,298,919
2. Positioning device reporting X, Y and Yaw motion; US 5,477,237
3. Twin mouse digitizer; US 6,081,258
4. Pointing device having rotational sensing mechanisms; US 6,618,038
5. Multiple sensor device and method; US 6,847,353
Unlike the conventional mouse which senses z-axis and y-axis displacement only, these 2-ball or 2-sensor mice are also able to sense z-axis angular motion, calculated by the two sets of x-y displacement data .
• Mechanical ring & rotary encoder
Within these devices rotation is detected by a mechanical ring (US 5,936,612). This mechanism was promoted by the Canadian company Handview Inc; however it apparently never made it to production.
• Gyroscopes or accelerometers
US Patent 6,130,664, named Input Device was the first known application of gyros to a rotating mouse. However, we still have not seen this technology in a commercial mouse to date.
Read more about this topic: Rotational Mouse
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