A multimodal pointer method, comprising an elongated, graspable, control shell (301) which has a rotatable, multi-axis control ball encoder (302) positioned so that it may be used in multiple modes, with a minimum of two function keys (307, 308) that can be used in all modes. The device may either be used at various orientations in-air, or be used in-air against a surface, or may be used downward on a side on a surface and used as a mouse, or be alternately used upward on a side as a trackball, and, in a preferred embodiment, may be used upright on its base (335), or on a cooperative static or dynamic, surface or suspension base stand (339, 338) which introduces other cooperative features. The method further comprehends the incorporation of a second, front or side-mounted pointer device, typically a single-axis wheel encoder (328) or a multi-axis auxiliary control ball encoder, and other programmable switches, and may be used either wired or wirelessly using incorporated or intermediately connective data transmission components.
On two buttons displayed adjacent to each other on a display means, when a cursor moves from the center position of a first button to the center position of a second button, an attractive force exerted in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the cursor in an attractive area is increased to be larger than a normal attractive force. Therefore the cursor can move to the desired button easily and surely.
