Optical Mice: How do they work, and what can they do for you?

The computer mouse was invented in the mid 1960s by Douglas Engelbart, and first demonstrated to the public in 1968. The way it works is pretty simple. If you’ve never done it before – try taking the ball out of yours and see what’s behind it. The mouse ball (usually a large steel bearing coated in rubber) is in contact with two rollers that represent X and Y directions (remember High School geometry?). When you move the mouse it moves the ball, which in turn moves the rollers, whose motion is interpreted by a sensor inside the mouse, and eventually is translated to the cursor moving on the screen. The basic design has not changed since its inception.

If you did what I suggested and looked inside your mouse, you may have noticed (especially if you’ve never done it before) that there is debris coating the wheels. This is dust and dirt picked up by the mouse ball and deposited onto them. Over time it can seriously degrade the performance of the mouse if not dealt with. Cleaning is a simple, but irritating procedure that must be done from time to time.

Enter the optical mouse. Sporting some very nice 21st century technology, and with a Cool Factor™ through the roof, it is the next evolutionary step for mice to take. An optical mouse is much more precise than a regular ball mouse, and never requires cleaning. And as a handy plus, it doesn’t need a mouse pad either.

An optical mouse works by shining a bright light on the surface it is on, then uses a miniature digital camera to take about 1500 pictures a second of that surface. It then uses a microprocessor to compare the pictures and determine movement. So for example if you are using it on a piece of paper and it sees a ‘T’, and 1/1500th of a second the ‘T’ has moved to the left in the picture, the mouse will know that it must be moving right. If you’re following me, at this point you may be thinking “But what if I move so fast that there is no ‘T’ in the second picture? Good question. To put it in non-technical terms, it freaks out. The cursor jumps around randomly until you stop moving the mouse. But keep in mind how fast you would have to move it to make it do that. In using an optical mouse for the last year, I have never had it happen in day-to-day use. And this includes some pretty intense movements when I’m playing games.

Because there are no moving parts, it never has to be cleaned. Or if it does, blowing some dust off of the lens is all that’s required. Also, since it doesn’t need to generate friction for the mouse ball to move, a mouse pad is not required. For that matter, the surface doesn’t even have to be a desk. I’ve used my optical mouse on carpet, fleece, jeans, and the armrest of a La-Z-Boy recliner. As long as it has something under it with even a hint of a pattern it will work. However, what it will not work with is glass or mirrors, as there is nothing for it to see. The more pattern the better, but even a blank sheet of paper, if viewed close enough, has a texture.

So is an optical mouse right for you? Having used just about every kind of pointing device out there, I have to say that after using an optical mouse, I never want to go back. Their versatility and reliability are incredible. If you never want to clean your mouse again, if you regularly need precision mouse movement for graphic editing, or if you just want to be up-to-date on the latest and greatest technology, I wholeheartedly recommend an optical mouse. At this point there are numerous brands and shapes out there, so you’re sure to be able to find one that fits your needs and your budget.