Why don't we use two mice at once?

Question

I always wondered why two mice aren&rsquo;t an option for the vast majority of operating systems. Imagine how fast one could operate a computer with two cursors, clicking on one part of the UI while moving their mouse to the next.I understand adding support for two cursors at the OS level might be tricky, but how hard can it be?What are your thoughts?

omgbear · Accepted Answer

I'd love my trackpad and mouse be separate -- It'd be nice to have the trackpad maybe constrained to the laptop screen and the mouse cover both the built-in and external one.Maybe possible with XINERAMA and assigning a mouse to a separate screen? IIRC you could have two separate X sessions on one machine with separate mice/keyboard -- Never tried to have 2 cursors in one screen.

syndicatedjelly · Answer

People typically use a mouse with 2 digits (pointer finger and middle finger). Motion is captured in 2 dimensions. Toss in a scroll wheel an extra thumb button and that’s about 6 different inputs.
2 mice could theoretically be 12 different inputs.
The inputs aren’t evenly distributed though, in terms of ease of access. The function of the left click button isn’t swappable with the x-axis of the trackball, for example.
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Now compare that with the keyboard. A keyboard with just 3 rows of 10 keys each is 30 different inputs already. Each input is fairly easy to swap - any finger can (relatively) easily hit any key, regardless of function. The only exception is the x-y motion of the trackball.
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So it seems logical that the best option would be the combination of a mouse and a huge number of keys.

torunar · Answer

It&rsquo;s possible to use multiple mice simultaneously in Linux using xinput: https://github.com/torunar/double-mouse.sh/blob/main/double-...

jjackson5324 · Answer

A better solution would be to use the webcam to track what a user is looking at and just immediately move the pointer to that location.

themerone · Answer

I expect that most people would struggle to interact with two sections of the screen at once.

nathants · Answer

i tried a two mouse setup for a game i&rsquo;m building, but went back to one. left hand on half a keyboard is just a really good interface, and i already have one mouse.i could see it working for a flight sim though. dual joysticks.

AlgoRitmo · Answer

i&rsquo;m not ambidextrous

bdangubic · Answer

you are thinking about this the wrong way - the question you should be asking yourself is why do you need a mouse at all in 2024&hellip; it&rsquo;s been 65 years since mouse was invented&hellip;

Why don't we use two mice at once?

It’s possible to use multiple mice simultaneously in Linux using xinput: https://github.com/torunar/double-mouse.sh/blob/main/double-...

A better solution would be to use the webcam to track what a user is looking at and just immediately move the pointer to that location.

I expect that most people would struggle to interact with two sections of the screen at once.

i tried a two mouse setup for a game i’m building, but went back to one. left hand on half a keyboard is just a really good interface, and i already have one mouse.
i could see it working for a flight sim though. dual joysticks.

i’m not ambidextrous

you are thinking about this the wrong way - the question you should be asking yourself is why do you need a mouse at all in 2024… it’s been 65 years since mouse was invented…