hardware Any hardware component that allows a user to input
to the computer using physical "gestures" -
point,
click,
and
drag - typically by moving a hand-held
mouse across
the surface of the physical desktop and activating switches on
the mouse. Movements of the pointing device are echoed on a
graphical representation of a desktop on the screen by
While the most common pointing device by far is a mouse, other
special "
data glove" that translates the user's movements to
computer gestures.
(1997-02-03)