Jump to content

Scroll wheel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Trackwheel" redirects here. For a system of vehicle propulsion, seeContinuous track.
The middle "wheel" is the scroll wheel.

Ascroll wheelis awheelused forscrolling.The term usually refers to such wheels found oncomputer mice(where they can also be called amouse wheel). It is often made of hardplasticwith arubberysurface, centred around an internalrotary encoder.It is usually located between the left and right mouse buttons and is positioned perpendicular to the mouse surface. Sometimes the wheel can be pressed left and right, which is actually just two additional macros buttons.

Functionality[edit]

The scroll wheel is placed horizontally between the mouse buttons and commonly uses vertical scrolling, wherein rolling the wheel from the bottom side to the top is known as scrolling "upward" or "forward", while the reverse, i.e. rolling the wheel from the top side to the bottom, is known as scrolling "downward" or "backward".

In agraphical user interface,the "upward" motion moves contents of the window downward (and thescrollbarthumb, if present, upward), and vice versa. In other configurations (sometimes called "natural scrolling" ) the effect is inverted.

On most mice, the scroll wheel can often also be used as a third, middlemouse buttonby pressing down on it,[1]known as thescroll button.

Some mice's scroll wheels can scroll horizontally bytiltingthem to the left or right,[2]or there may be additional wheel on a perpendicular axis located elsewhere on the mouse.

The wheel is often, but not always, engineered withdetentsto turn in discrete steps, rather than continuously as an analog axis, to allow the operator to more easily intuit how far they are scrolling.[3][4]

Trackwheel (1) on aBlackBerry

Scroll wheels are prevalent on modern computer mice and have become an integral part of thehardware interface.However, non-wheeled mice are still available.

Some user interfaces, likeCinnamon (desktop environment),allow using it to adjustbrightnessandvolumeby pointing at the respective taskbar icon while scrolling.

History[edit]

The scroll wheel on a mouse has been invented multiple times by different people unaware of the others' work.

Other scrolling controls on a mouse, and the use of a wheel for scrolling both precede the combination of wheel and mouse. The earliest known example of the former is theMighty Mouseprototype developed jointly byNTT,Japan andETH Zürich,Switzerland (Kunio Ōno, Ken'ichi Fukaya and Jürg Nievergelt) in 1985. It had a thumb-operated combinedanalogbutton/toggle switchon the side for smooth scrolling.[5]

At theACM SIGCHIconference in 1989, Gina Danielle Venolia fromApplepresented a mouse prototype with a horizontal thumb-wheel for scrolling, or for navigating inwards and outwards:zoomingor along the third axis in3D space.[5]In her patent application from 1992 there are two vertical wheels: left and right of the button(s).[6]

In 1995, theTaiwanesecompanyKYE Systemsreleased the first commercial mouse with scroll wheel. It was namedGenius EasyScrolland was also available asMouse SystemsProAgio.[7][8][9][10]

The scroll wheel was popularized by theMicrosoftIntelliMousein 1996 along with support for the mouse wheel inMicrosoft Office 97.It had been based on ideas developed byEric Michelmansince 1993 with input from Chris Graham.[7][11]

Scroll wheels can also be found onPDAsand mobiles phones such as earlySonymodels,BlackBerrydevices andNokia 7110,which usually have the function of navigating through menus.[12][13]They have also appeared onkeyboards,particularly onLogitechandMicrosoftmodels, usually located to the left of thecaps lockkey.

Alternatives[edit]

Instead of a scroll-wheel, some mice (and other devices) use an alternative but similar component.

Laptop computers often include atouchpadprogrammed with apointing device gesturethat mimics a scroll-wheel (either by dedicating an edge of the pad for scrolling, or activating scrolling through amultitouchgesture), or mimics a scroll-wheel button click (by clicking both the left and right buttons simultaneously, to activate omni-directional scrolling). ManyLinuxdistributions offer a method of scrolling using the touchpad where the user will first activate scroll-mode by pressing in a corner of the pad, and then dragging in a circle around the center of the pad; letting go of the touchpad will switch back to the default mouse-mode.

In mice, alternatives include scroll balls (similar totrackballs,such as onApple'sMighty Mouseand some serial or PS/2 mice, which combine horizontal and vertical scrolling),pointing sticks,[14]integratedtouchpads(as on Apple'sMagic Mouse) or optical sensors.[15]Unusual examples include a joystick-style hatswitch present on an earlySaitekmouse,[16]and a central 4-way switch-pad found on the Cherry Power Pad Mouse M-1000. Genius also offered the simpler NetMouse in the late 1990s, which had a two-way rocker switch instead of a wheel, marketed as the Magic Scroll Button. Kensington currently offers several models of trackball mice with a large "scroll ring" that surrounds the ball itself and is rotated using multiple fingers instead of only the index finger as on the scroll wheel of a conventional mouse.

SomeThinkPadlaptops allow scrolling using thepointing stickby holding a button above the touch pad.[17]

Other applications[edit]

Scroll wheel on a Nokia 7110

Scroll-wheel motion is often used to control other aspects of a system. For instance, it can allow the user to switch between a series of options, zoom in or out, or increment/decrement any value.

Infirst-person shootercomputer games, scroll wheels are often used to switch between weapons[18]or even to allow the player to lean left and right if horizontal scrolling is available[19]or zoom in/out a telescopic sight. Some of them and mostreal-time strategygames also use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out of the player's view.[20][21]

CADapplications such asAutodesk'sAutoCADuse the mouse wheel to navigate the space in which the user is drawing.[22]This has become a de facto standard in many 3D applications, withTrimble'sSketchUp(formerly owned byGoogle) using the scroll wheel to zoom in and out in the 3D space, while a wheel-click and a mouse drag is orbit.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Broida, Rick (2009-12-22)."Bring Your Middle Mouse Button to Life".PC World.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-02.Retrieved2022-03-02.
  2. ^Lee, Kuo-Wei; Lee, Ying-Chu Lee (July 2010). "Design and validation of virtually multiple mouse wheels".International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics.40(4).Elsevier:392–401.doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2010.03.004.
  3. ^Nass, Richard (2006-12-01)."Tear Down: High-end mouse goes where no mouse has gone".Embedded.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-02.Retrieved2023-03-02.
  4. ^Livingston, Christopher (2020-03-12)."Do you like your mouse wheel to click when you scroll, or spin freely?".PC Gamer.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-02.Retrieved2023-03-02.
  5. ^abBuxton, Bill,"Chapter 2: An Illustrated Tour"(PDF),Human Input to Computer Systems: Theories, Techniques and Technology,retrievedDecember 8,2018
  6. ^US 5313230A,Venolia, Daniel S. & Ishikawa, Shinpei, "Three degree of freedom graphic object controller", published 1992-07-24, issued 1994-05-17
  7. ^abCoding Horror: Meet The Inventor of the Mouse Wheel
  8. ^gearrate – History of Computer Mouse (1964 ~ 2020)
  9. ^funtrivia – Quiet As a Mouse – Fun Facts, Questions, Answers, InformationArchived2013-06-12 at theWayback Machine
  10. ^Joe Kissell (2004-10-07)."The Evolution of Scrolling: Reinventing the wheel".Interesting Thing of the Day.Retrieved2010-02-12.
  11. ^The History of the Scroll Wheel
  12. ^Zwick, Carola;Studio 7.5; Schmitz, Burkhard; Kühl, Kerstin (2005).Designing for Small Screens.AVA Publishing.pp. 51–52.ISBN2-940373-07-8.Retrieved2022-03-02.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^Madry, Scott (2020).Disruptive Space Technologies and Innovations: The Next Chapter.Springer Nature.p. 32.ISBN978-3-030-22188-1.Retrieved2023-03-02.
  14. ^"TrackPoint Mouse G1".
  15. ^"Navigator 525 Laser Mouse".
  16. ^GM1 Scroll Mouse,archived fromthe originalon 2003-02-10,retrieved2015-07-26
  17. ^Gartenberg, Chaim (2020-06-30)."The ThinkPad TrackPoint tried to build a better mouse".The Verge.Retrieved2022-05-16.
  18. ^Clarke, Delwin; Duimering, P. Robert (July 2006). "How computer gamers experience the game situation: a behavioral study".Computers in Entertainment.4(3).University of Waterloo:7.doi:10.1145/1146816.1146827.
  19. ^Kauffmann, Stéphane (2004-07-09)."Logitech New Mouse Range Goes Back to the Future".Tom's Hardware.p. 11.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-02.Retrieved2023-03-02.
  20. ^O'Luanaigh, Patrick (2006).Game Design Complete.Paraglyph Press. p. 161.ISBN1584502398.Retrieved2023-03-02.
  21. ^Goodfellow, Troy (2010-06-03)."Analysis: Wide Angle Lens - RTS Camera Angles And Design Decisions".Gamasutra.Archivedfrom the original on 2010-08-04.Retrieved2023-03-02.
  22. ^Jankowski, J.; Hachet, M. (2014-10-20), "Advances in Interaction with 3D Environments",Computer Graphics Forum,34(1),John Wiley & Sons:174,doi:10.1111/cgf.12466
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scroll_wheel&oldid=1229316045"