A pointing device is a hardware input device that allows the user to move the mouse cursor in a computer program or GUI (graphical user interface) operating system. It is a human interface device that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer. Using a pointing device, you can point at or manipulate any object or text on the screen. The most common pointing device for desktop computers is the computer mouse, while for laptop computers, it is the touchpad. For smartphones and tablets, the most common pointing device is your finger on a touch screen. Other examples of pointing devices include:
- Camera mouse
- Finger on touch screen
- Footmouse
- J mouse
- Joystick
- Leap Motion
- Light pen (pen)
- Stylus
- Trackball
- TrackPoint
- Touchpad
- Keyboard (Can be used to move the mouse pointer)
Pointing devices send information (axis pointer information) to the computer and do not receive any information from the computer, which makes them input devices. The major pointing actions include point and click, drag and drop, left and right click, and scrolling.
