Computer controllers

2021-11-26

Humans interact with computers through controllers.

controller attributes

number of axes
half axis / whole axis: pressure on surface can only be appled to one direction
axis length: fixed / variable infinite. Touch screen has fixed axis lengths, mouse has variable axis lengths depending on the available surface area. A rotary encoder has one infinite axis
relativity: reltaive / absolute. Relative controller only senses change. Mouse is relative, touch screen is absolute.
rezolution: binary / analog
persistency: Does the controller return to some state when you do not apply force on it anymore. Persistent controllers: mouse, modwheel. Transient controllers: pitch bend, keyboard, joystick.
jumpability: jumpable / non jumpable. Can the controller state be set without going through intermediate states? Touch screen is jumpable, joystick is continous. All relative controllers are non jumpable.
composability: is the controller usually used as a combination of multiple controllers. Keyboard has always multiple keys. A touch screen can support multitouch or single touch. Omni ⬀ is a set of controllers that reads input from the whole body of the user.

derivative: position / speed / acceleration
origin stability: Joystick controller on touch screen can have variable origin. Varialbe origin is useful with rotary encoders.
linearity: pen tablet pressure is often interpretted in a nonlinear way. Mouse pointer movements are linear.

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