Overview

This chapter contains essential information for game developers, but its subject matter goes far beyond games. Imagine for a moment a game in which you can use your computer to manipulate a wide range of devices whose controls and behavior you see on the screen. Perhaps you decide to try gene splicing or building DNA in a biology simulator game.

The only problem with this scenario is that it is not a game. Computers are constantly used to manipulate mechanical devices, and they receive input not only from the mouse and the keyboard, but also from a variety of control and graphical inputs joysticks, dials, and the like.

The Macintosh computer has always been prominent in research particularly in biomedical research and in space. In large part, this is because many research projects require scientists to combine computer programming skills with other, domain-based skills. The Macintosh has always provided advanced programming tools, and it continues to do so with Mac OS X.

Managing the human interface devices that run games and scientific experiments requires interacting with the basic hardware governed by the kernel. This chapter shows you the highlights of the Human Interface Device (HID) manager, which will be your constant companion.

Also in this chapter, you will find information about NSMovie and NSMovieView. These are the Cocoa classes that let you play and manipulate QuickTime movies.

Finally, the correct way to handle immersive interfaces using the full screen is described.

Human Interface Device (HID) Manager

One of the key...