A touchpad is a device that controls the computer in the same way as the mouse. This computing device is a small pad with sensors that react to the user’s finger movements on the pad. The users can therefore interact with the computer by dragging their fingers across the pad in order to move the cursor. Touch pads are typically associated with laptops since they allow laptop users to travel without carrying a separate mouse, which can be tedious. It also allows users to save on space and for this reason, is also found on other devices such as portable media players and personal digital assistants (PDAs). There are also touch pads made for desktop computers. A touchpad is a soft pad with sensors beneath it that respond to the user’s finger movements and downward pressure as opposed to the mouse which users a roller ball, sensors or a laser.
In addition to the top layer that the user touches, there are several other layers beneath the touchpad. These layers contain a grid made by vertical and horizontal rows of electrodes.
This electrode layer is connected to a circuit board contained in the layer beneath it. There is a constant AC (alternating current) that is responsible for charging the electrode layer. When the user’s finger approaches this electrode grid, there is interruption of the AC current, which is detected by the circuit board. The touchpad registers the initial point that the finger touches so that all the successive finger movements are related to this point. There are different types of touch pads though most of them can be configured to recognize different commands. For example there are those that have mouse buttons that the user can use to click on objects or those that can be tapped in the same way that a mouse is tapped.
The touchpad can also be configured according to the user’s sensitivity preferences. Some touch pads are manufactured in such a way that they do not respond to any other object apart from the finger. Touch pads can also contain two special pressure points that correspond to clicking the right or left side of a mouse. With more demands being placed on portable computing devices, it has become necessary to continuously improve on touch pads to increase their functionality. Different companies have sensed this potential and now, there are products such as tablet computers. These are used for drawing using a specialized pen to draw on the tablet and the drawing is then translated onto the screen.