<P> Another early trackball was built by British electrical engineer Kenyon Taylor in collaboration with Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff . Taylor was part of the original Ferranti Canada, working on the Royal Canadian Navy's DATAR (Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving) system in 1952 . </P> <P> DATAR was similar in concept to Benjamin's display . The trackball used four disks to pick up motion, two each for the X and Y directions . Several rollers provided mechanical support . When the ball was rolled, the pickup discs spun and contacts on their outer rim made periodic contact with wires, producing pulses of output with each movement of the ball . By counting the pulses, the physical movement of the ball could be determined . A digital computer calculated the tracks and sent the resulting data to other ships in a task force using pulse - code modulation radio signals . This trackball used a standard Canadian five - pin bowling ball . It was not patented, since it was a secret military project . </P> <P> Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) has been credited in published books by Thierry Bardini, Paul Ceruzzi, Howard Rheingold, and several others as the inventor of the mouse . Engelbart was also recognized as such in various obituary titles after his death in July 2013 . </P> <P> By 1963, Engelbart had already established a research lab at SRI, the Augmentation Research Center (ARC), to pursue his objective of developing both hardware and software computer technology to "augment" human intelligence . That November, while attending a conference on computer graphics in Reno, Nevada, Engelbart began to ponder how to adapt the underlying principles of the planimeter to X-Y coordinate input . On November 14, 1963, he first recorded his thoughts in his personal notebook about something he initially called a "bug," which in a "3 - point" form could have a "drop point and 2 orthogonal wheels ." He wrote that the "bug" would be "easier" and "more natural" to use, and unlike a stylus, it would stay still when let go, which meant it would be "much better for coordination with the keyboard ." </P>

Who created the mouse that is used with computers today