A peripheral device with an adaptive scroll wheel can be used to provide additional control of a host computing device. A variable force is used to change friction on the adaptive scroll wheel for different situations. Examples include stopping a scroll wheel at an end of a document, changing a number of ratchet steps based on a number of items on a list, and changing scroll profiles based on application, such as a scroll profile for document processing and a scroll profile for gaming.

An input device includes a sensor and a housing. The sensor is adapted to provide cursor control on a display based on relative movement between the sensor and a reference surface. The housing at least partially contains the sensor and is adapted to be selectively manipulable relative to the reference surface into a first position to cause operation of the sensor at a first precision level and into a second position to cause operation of the sensor at a second precision level different from the first precision level.

In some embodiments, an input device includes a housing having a top surface, a touch sensor disposed on the top surface of the housing, and a processor disposed in the housing. The touch sensor can be configured to detect a contact by a hand on the top surface of the housing and generate touch data corresponding to the detected contact by the hand. The processor can be configured to control operation of the touch sensor and receive the touch data, determine an orientation of the hand with respect to the housing based on the touch data, and calibrate a detected movement of the input device based on the determined orientation of the hand with respect to the housing. An image sensor and/or one or more IMUs can be used to detect 2D and/or 3D movement of the input device.

In some aspects, the disclosure is directed to methods and systems for a hybrid position and rate control input device comprising: a housing comprising an upper portion and a lower portion; a force-detecting sensor configured to detect a translation or rotation of the upper portion relative to the lower portion; a motion-detecting sensor within one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the housing, configured to detect motion of the housing relative to a surface; a communication interface positioned within the housing; and a processor positioned within the housing configured to select between a first translation signal from the motion-detecting sensor and a second translation signal from the force-detecting sensor; and transmit, via the communication interface to a computing device, the selected translation signal.

A mouse configured to communicatively couple to an information handling system may include an enclosure, a scroll wheel enclosed within the enclosure, with a portion of the scroll wheel extending from the enclosure, the scroll wheel configured to rotate about a first rotational axis, a scroll wheel gear mechanically coupled to the scroll wheel and configured to rotate about the first rotational axis at the same angular velocity as the scroll wheel, and a damping gear assembly. The damping gear assembly may include a damping gear enclosed with the enclosure and configured to rotate about a second rotational axis parallel to the first rotational axis of the scroll wheel and a slider enclosed within the enclosure and exposed through an opening of the enclosure proximate to the portion of the scroll wheel which is exposed through the enclosure, the slider mechanically coupled to the damping gear to enable a user to selectively engage the damping gear to the scroll wheel gear and selectively disengage the damping gear from the scroll wheel gear by interacting with the slider, such that the damping gear inhibits rotation of the scroll wheel when the damping gear is engaged with the scroll wheel gear and such that the scroll wheel rotates freely when the damping gear is disengaged from the scroll wheel gear.

A data entry device for entering predetermined characters by the finger of a user and converting the characters into a sequence of electronic signals representing the entered characters, that comprises a touch sensitive zone (2) on an outer surface, a processor (58) coupled to the touch sensitive zone (2) for sensing the zone (2) is touched, the processor (58) is programmed to recognize predetermined elementary finger movements and combinations thereof and to associate each of them with a character, wherein a closed boundary (10) is defined on the surface of the device above a portion of the touch sensitive zone (2) that has at least one haptic property differing from the haptic properties of the surrounding area, whereby the finger can definitely sense when the boundary (10) is touched, and the boundary (10) has an interior area constituting a data entry field (11) that has a centre region (16) which has at least one haptic property differing from the haptic properties of the portion beyond the centre region (16), whereby the finger when touching the centre zone (16) can sense being on the centre region (16), and the processor (58) is programmed so as to recognize when the centre region (16) is touched for a predetermined duration by the finger and interprets this event as the beginning of the entry of a character and from that moment starts observing and analyzing the combination of the elementary finger movements as long as the finger touches the data entry field (11), and when the finger has finished touching the data entry field (11) this is interpreted by the processor (58) as the end of the entry of the character, wherein the elementary finger movements can be radial movements between the centre zone (16) and one of a plurality of predetermined discrete special positions along the boundary (10) in both directions and arced movements along the boundary (10) from one special position to a neighbouring special position.

A mouse including a housing, an image sensing element, a lens, or a laser Doppler cursor positioning sensor; a light-transmitting hole is located where the housing is intersected with a third plane, the third plane is defined by an edge intersecting a first plane and a second plane and a halving line of an angle of the first plane and the second plane; a light source is provided and configured to emit a light beam from the light-transmitting region to the working surface, and the lens is configured to focus a reflected light of the light beam on the working surface to be transmitted to the image sensing element through the light-transmitting hole; or the laser Doppler cursor positioning sensor is configured to project a light from the light-transmitting region to the working surface, and a reflected light is also fed back to the sensor through the light-transmitting hole.

A computer input device system that includes a finger-wearable input unit that is capable of providing inputs in a two-dimensional plane or in three-dimensional space, and that is capable of transitioning between registering inputs along a two-dimensional plane or in a three-dimensional space. The finger-wearable unit can be made up of separable modules and links that allow for reconfiguration of the finger-wearable unit according to a user's needs.

The disclosed handheld controllers may include a multi-degree of freedom sensor module, a mouse module, and a switch. The mouse module may include a mouse sensor and a proximity sensor. The switch may be configured to activate the mouse sensor and deactivate the multi-degree of freedom sensor module when the proximity sensor indicates that the mouse sensor is proximate to a physical surface and to deactivate the mouse sensor and activate the multi-degree of freedom sensor when the proximity sensor indicates that the mouse sensor is not proximate to the physical surface. Various other related methods, systems, and devices are also disclosed.

A computer input device system that includes a finger-wearable input unit that is capable of providing inputs in a two-dimensional plane or in three-dimensional space. The inventive subject matter also includes a mouse frame that receives the finger-wearable unit, allowing a user to quickly transition from the finger-wearable unit to the mouse frame for traditional table-top mouse operation and back. The mouse frame includes features that allow for simple, easy and precise docking and undocking of the finger-wearable unit. The finger-wearable unit can be made up of separable modules and links that allow for reconfiguration of the finger-wearable unit according to a users needs.