Millisecond Forums

recording of computer mouse vs. touchpad and mouse speed/acceleration settings

https://forums.millisecond.com/Topic30846.aspx

By peter.k.p - 2/18/2021

Hello Everyone,

It is crucial for online mouse tracking research to only accept mouse input and not touchpad input. Therefore, I was wondering whether there is a variable that I can record that can differentiate between subjects using a computer mouse or a touchpad on their laptop. Since the /inputdevice option ‘mouse’ allows for recording both.

Also, can Inquisit record the default mouse speed that might differ between subjects in an online experiment? Or disable mouse acceleration in case it is on? I guess the answer is no, however, I was still wondering whether there is a possibility to standardize the mouse speed during the Inquisit experiment.

Thanks for your input,
–P
By Dave - 2/18/2021

peter.k.p - 2/18/2021
Hello Everyone,

It is crucial for online mouse tracking research to only accept mouse input and not touchpad input. Therefore, I was wondering whether there is a variable that I can record that can differentiate between subjects using a computer mouse or a touchpad on their laptop. Since the /inputdevice option ‘mouse’ allows for recording both.

Also, can Inquisit record the default mouse speed that might differ between subjects in an online experiment? Or disable mouse acceleration in case it is on? I guess the answer is no, however, I was still wondering whether there is a possibility to standardize the mouse speed during the Inquisit experiment.

Thanks for your input,
–P

As for setting mouse speed or acceleration, no that is not possible.

As for programmatically differentiating between mouse / touchpad, there's no variable I can think of that Inquisit could tap. However, you could have participants indicate what they use at the very beginning of the procedure and then abort for those that indicate touchpad.