Though originally all mice were connected to a computer by a cable, many modern mice are cordless, relying on short-range radio communication with the connected system.

Most modern mice use optical movement detection with no moving parts. Later, the standard design shifted to use a ball rolling on a surface to detect motion, in turn connected to internal rollers. Mice originally used two separate wheels to directly track movement across a surface: one in the x-dimension and one in the Y. The first public demonstration of a mouse controlling a computer system was done by Doug Engelbart in 1968 as part of the Mother of All Demos. This motion is typically translated into the motion of the pointer (called a cursor) on a display, which allows a smooth control of the graphical user interface of a computer.

For the animal, see Mouse.Ī computer mouse with the most common features: two buttons (left and right) and a scroll wheel (which can also function as a button when pressed inwards) A typical wireless computer mouseĪ computer mouse (plural mice, also mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-dimensional motion relative to a surface.

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