Pointing device gesture

The first[1] pointing device gesture, the "drag", was introduced by Apple to replace a dedicated "move" button on mice shipped with its Macintosh and Lisa computers.

For example, in the Myth real-time tactics series, originally created by Bungie, players use them to order battlefield units to face in a desired direction.

Ōkami uses a system similar to mouse gestures; the player can enter a drawing mode in which the shape they create (circle, lightning bolt, line, etc.)

Touchscreens of tablet-type devices, such as the iPad, utilize multi-touch technology, with gestures acting as the main form of user interface.

[3] Its successor, Windows 8 is designed to run both on traditional desktops and mobile devices and hence gestures are now enabled by default where the hardware allows it.

For example, a common hotspot feature is the far right side of the touchpad, which will scroll the active page if a finger is dragged down or up it.

An increasing number of products like smartphones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers have functions that are triggered by multi-touch gestures.

A major drawback of current gesture interaction solutions is the lack of support for two necessary user interface design principles, feedback and visibility (or affordance).

Most recent versions of Opera (11 and above) uses an on-screen pie menu to simply and instructively display which mouse gestures are available and how to activate them, providing feedback and visibility.

Holding down buttons while moving the mouse can be awkward and requires some practice, since the downwards action increases friction for the horizontal motion.