A Comparison of Computer Input Devices: Linus Pen, Mouse, Cursor Keys and Keyboard

Abstract

Four input devices were compared in a data entry task by speed and accuracy scores. The input devices were: Linus pen (a handwriting recognition system), optical mouse, cursor keys, and alphabetic keys on a keyboard. Data entry consisted of twenty 5-letter words and 100 single letters. Two different screen designs (QWERTY and ALPHA) were used for the mouse and cursor keys conditions. Results showed the keyboard to be fastest and the cursor keys to be slowest in data entry. The mouse and Linus pen had comparable latency scores. Overall, five-letter words were entered faster than five single letters. Latency decreased over trials, and ALPHA conditions required more time than QWERTY conditions. The Linus pen was the least accurate input device. The cursor QWERTY condition produced the highest accuracy scores for letter entry while the keyboard produced the highest accuracy scores for word entry.