Design and validation of virtually multiple mouse wheels

The primary goal of this research is to design “virtually multiple mouse wheels”. Virtually multiple wheels are defined as wheels that provide multiple manipulation positions for scrolling by the finger. A sensor senses the manipulation position of the finger, and issues a corresponding auxiliary signal, which allows the wheel to have multiple manipulation modes, that is, each of the manipulation positions is used as a separate virtual wheel. Through this design, a single mouse wheel can be turned into multiple mouse wheels, enhancing the operation efficiency of software functions.Several experiments are conducted to compare the time needed to operate software functions with the traditional combination of “mouse click + toolbar” and with the proposed “virtually multiple mouse wheels”. The results indicate that the design of virtually multiple mouse wheels can enhance the efficiency of operating software functions. Based on the experimental results, this concept is provided to assist designers a direction for devising extended applications of a single wheel.