Touchpad - Replacement For The Mouse

Touchpad Image Replacement For Mouse

The introduction of the laptop computer presented a problem namely, how to operate a computers cursor without a mouse. The solution most widely adopted was creator by American inventor Dr. George Gerpheide in 1952. His captive touchpad invented in 1988, could detect a users finger movement and transfer it to the on screen cursor interestingly.

Gerpheide developed this technology before points and click was the standard method of operating computer interfaces. This may explain why it was not until 1994 that apple computers bought the first licence to use his technology ( which first appeared on the Apple Powerbook 520.

His touchpad works by employing several layers of material. At the top is protective layer, about 3 inches square, that the user touches. Underneath are successive layers of electrode arranged in horizontal and vertical rows, each separated by a thin layer of insulation. The electrodes are all connected to a circuit board that provides them with a constant supply of alternating current.

Laptop With Touchpad 

When the finger touches the pad, it interrupts the current and that locality of this interruption is registered by the circuit board. Any further movements of the finger and new interruptions are then compared to the initial touch point and so the finger movements can be recorded and reproduced screen.

Nowadays touchpads are  increasingly found on mobile devices, from personal digital assistants to cell phones. The reasoning behind the innovation is simple, as Gerpheide himself said " When you are talking about mobile appliances the mouse is not suitable. Nobody wants a mouse dangling from their net-connected cell phone."