This black and white photograph shows Douglas Engelbart sitting in a chair in an SRI office. His right hand is raised to make a point. He wears a suit and tie. An earpiece in his left ear is connected to a computer. Also shown are a mouse and, partially, a keyboard. A blackboard is in the background with the following words and numbers written on it: } PL0T BLANK: ? / PL0T S0LID; ? / 5 -> 3.
In 1968, Douglas C. Engelbart and researchers at the the Augmentation Research Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, CA introduced the first design of the computer mouse. Previously, manipulation of on-screen environments had required light pens or keyboard strokes. Although this mouse, an exact replica of the original (including the scuffs and dents), looks unweildy, it foreshadows what would soon become the preferred method of non-keyboard based computer input.
This black and white photograph, taken at SRI in 1969, shows Douglas Engelbart and others using On-Line System (NLS) terminals. Four white men sit staring at terminals. One, Douglas Engelbart, operates a mouse and five-finger keypad. The others watch two separate terminals that show the same thing on their screens. The image also shows part of two chalkboards.
This black and white photograph, taken at SRI about 1968, shows Douglas Engelbart's hands and a Herman Miller supplied keyboard. Engelbart’s left hand is on the five-finger keyset, his right hand on the three button mouse. The keyboard is in the middle.
This black and white photograph shows a graph comparing data on the ease of use of various computer screen interaction devices. It was included in a 1965 SRI report to NASA.
The photographs of acquisition 2015.3073 relate to the evolution of the computer mouse.
Reference:
William K. English, Douglas C. Engelbart, and Melvyn L. Berman, “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation,” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15. This image was published as figure 2.
This black and white photograph shows a light pen, one of the candidates for interaction between a computer user and a computer tested at SRI.
The original image dates from about 1965.
Reference:
William K. English, Douglas C. Engelbart, and Melvyn L. Berman, “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation,” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15. This image was published as figure 5.
This black and white photograph shows three possible devices for interaction between a computer user and a computer screen that were tested at SRI in 1964 and 1965. On the right is a computer mouse, in the middle a joystick, and on the left a Grafacon. A light pen and a knee control also were tested – use of the mouse produced the fewest errors (see 2015.3073.01).
Reference:
William K. English, Douglas C. Engelbart, and Melvyn L. Berman, “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation,” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, March 1967, Vol. HFE-8, No. 1, pp. 5-15. This image was published as figure 2.