 Three categories of alternative input

devices are-
A. Devices for hand
B. Optical Input Devices
C. Audiovisual Input Devices
Devices for the Hand- Pen based
input
 Pen based input includes Tablet PCs, PDA, handheld
computers, etc.
 These devices use a pen/stylus for data input
 You hold the pen in your hand & write on a special pad or
directly on the screen.
 Pen can also be used as a pointing device
 Handwriting recognition is a problem in these kind of devices
 Commonly used for data collection, inputting signatures or
messages.
 Devices for the hand-Touch
screens
 Touch screens accept input by allowing the
user to place a fingertip directly on computer
screen.
 It use sensors on the screen surface to detect
the touch of a finger.
 It usually presents a menu to users
 Examples include- ATM, public information
kiosk.
Devices for the hand- Game
controller
 Game controller can be considered an input
device because a computer game is a program
 A game accepts input from the user, processes
data, & produces output as graphics & sound.
 It generally fall into two categories-
Joystick
Game pad
 Optical Input Devices
• Bar code Reader or Scanner
• Image or Page Scanner or Scanner
• OMR (Optical Mark Reader) or Mark sense reader
 Optical Input Devices – Bar Code Reader

 These devices read bar codes(patterns of printed

bars that appear on product packages)
 It emits a beam of that is reflected by the bar code
image.
 Amount of reflected light indicates number
 Converts bar codes to numbers
 Computer find number in a database
Optical Input Devices – Bar Code
Reader
These devices are usually two types-

 Flatbed Models are  Handheld Models

commonly found in Workers for delivery
supermarkets and services, such as
department stores. FedEx, use handheld
bar code readers in
the field to identify
packages
Optical Input Devices - Scanner
 Image scanners convert any printed image into
electronic form by shining light onto the image
 It also senses the intensity of the light’s reflection
at every point.
 it translates printed images into an electronic
format that can be stored in a computer’s memory.
Optical Input Devices – Scanner (Cont.)

 Special software for scanner: OCR

Optical character recognition (OCR)

○ Converts scanned text into editable text
○ Each letter is scanned
○ Letters are compared to known letters
○ Best match is entered into document
○ Rarely 100% accurate
 Optical Input Devices – OMR

 OMR (Optical Mark Reader)

 Excellent for large amount of MCQ type format such
as in examinations, or survey questioner.
Audiovisual Input Devices-
Microphones
 Microphones are used to record speech
 Speech recognition
○ “Understands” human speech
○ Allows dictation or control of computer
○ Matches spoken sound to known phonemes
○ Enters best match into document
Audiovisual Input Devices-
MIDI
 Musical Instrument Digital Interface
 It connects musical instruments to computer
 Digital recording or playback of music
 Musicians can produce professional results
Audiovisual Input Devices-Video
Inputs
 Videoconferencing enable people to use full
motion video images, which are captured by a PC
video camera, and transmit them on a network.
 The video cameras used with computers digitize
images by breaking them into individual pixels.
 A popular and inexpensive type of PC video
camera is called a Webcam
 Using a video capture card, the user also can
connect other video devices and transfer video
equipment to the PC.
Audiovisual Input Devices-Video
Inputs
• A video capture board transforms analog video
into digital video.
• Codecs or compression/decompression
standards are used to compress digital video
files.
• A frame rate of 24 frames per second (fps) is
needed to produce a continuous smooth action.
Audiovisual Input Devices
 Digital cameras are portable, handheld
devices that capture still images.
Captures images electronically
No film is needed
Image is stored as a JPG file
Memory cards store the images
Used in a variety of professions
End of Chapter