Input Devices

Input devices are used all around the world on a daily basis and affect our lives more than many people realize. They are classified as any machine that is used to enter data into a computer. One of the most common types of input devices was used to type this paper, a keyboard. There is so much more to this common device then you notice at first glance. Another input device that consumes much of our world is the modern day smartphone. There are very few people around that do not have access to this high tech device. The smartphone mechanism itself contains multiple different inputs. There are many inputs that people will go their whole life not using or maybe not realizing they had access to. These people aren’t even getting full access of their device and the smartphone is still considered an amazing machine. The future for input devices is also predicted to keep improving. There may even be a new technique that involves a continuous flow of input, rather than the single stream of input that is currently in function.

Input devices are known to be the physical equipment used to enter data into computers. In turn the information that has been entered into the computer hardware equipment is then displayed using an output device. The output device is most commonly the display or screen of a computer or smartphone for example. Input devices can be classified in multiple ways. There is the modality of the input which is most commonly audio, visual, or mechanical motion. The second classification used is the degrees of freedom involved. Some examples of degrees of freedom would be two dimensional or three dimensional navigation. Two dimensional freedom is most commonly known as the mouse. Three dimensional navigation would describe the CAD application that is used in design processes. (Wikipedia, 2013) This is an efficient way of classifying input devices. A keyboard is