Control one computer with multiple keyboards and mice

Posted on December 19, 2008 at 5:31 am

Most of the time I’ve only heard of people wanting to control multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse, something that is becoming more common if you have more than one desktop at home. You can control more than one computer either using free software, like Input Director, or you can use a hard device like a KVM switch.

So that’s great, but what if you want to do the opposite!? What if you want to control one computer with multiple keyboards and mice? So why would you ever want to do that? This could be useful for people who are training users on how to use a computer, kind of like cars that have two sets of controls for training new drivers.

It could also be useful for corporate presentations where you may want to have multiple participants being able to control the computer at different times. Instead of one person getting up and moving to the computer, the next presenter can just use their set of keyboard and mouse to control the computer.

Whatever your reason may be, being able to use more than one keyboard and mouse on a single computer could be useful for some!

team player

TeamPlayer is a free program that allows multiple mice/keyboard/tablets to work together on one PC. Since it supports tablets, this is also great software for graphic artists who may want to simultaneously collaborate on one drawing or graphic.

So how does this work? How can you have more than one mouse control one computer? Well once you install the software and connect up more keyboard and mice via USB ports (you may need a USB hub), then multiple cursors will begin to appear on the screen, each a different color.

Normally if you were to connect multiple mice to one computer without this kind of software, there would only be one mouse pointer and it would be constantly flipping all over the screen if two people were trying to control it at the same time.

TeamPlayer is really meant for group environments and will work if two people are doing things at the same time, but it’s meant more for convenience. If you have only one monitor, if two people are trying to do something at the same time, it’ll be hard for either to work. However, this app can work with multiple monitors, so if you have a dual monitor setup, one person can work on one screen with their own program and another person on the other screen.

Possibly great for home users who have one computer, but are always fighting for who gets to use the computer. With dual monitors, dual keyboards and mice, and Team Player, two people can use one computer at the same time! Nice! Source: LifeHacker

» Filed Under Free Software Downloads

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Comments

6 Responses to “Control one computer with multiple keyboards and mice”

  1. PC said on : December 19th, 2008 at 9:55 am

    Trying for this kind of software. Nice find..


  2. Dan Lester said on : November 2nd, 2009 at 8:21 am

    Team Player is shareware, After 30 days you must purchase it. This is not free software.


  3. Prasad said on : February 15th, 2010 at 11:33 pm

    I want to control one computer with multiple joysticks (Logitech Attack3 Joystick). Is it possible through Team Player. Waiting for your reply.

    Prasad – 9819552524


  4. steven said on : June 12th, 2010 at 4:00 am

    ok well i tried this and it works. one flaw, however: you can’t control 2 applications SIMULTANEOUSLY – you sorta have to take turns clicking.

    as it is currently, i could see this being very useful when 2+ people are using ONE app on one PC, but if you want to use one PC to fuel 2+ users who want to control 2+ apps on 2+ monitors

    for example: i click on the address bar, and begin typing, and my friend uses his own cursor to click something on the other monitor – whatever he clicked becomes the primary window and anything i hit on the keyboard goes into whatever app he clicked.

    simultaneous clicking of the 2 mice also doesn’t work. only ONE mouse is the “mouse” at a time. the other is really just a movable cursor on the screen. once it clicks, ONLY THEN is it the “mouse”. what this means: clicking has to alternate. you don’t actually have 2 exclusive, independent users on one computer. RATHER, clicking your mouse gives you exclusive control of your very own controllable curso, while the previously exclusive cursor changes color to a “for show” cursor, until clicked.

    basically, they’ve made progress, and hopefully this is soon developed more usefully, but we’re not there yet.


  5. Ryan L said on : July 18th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    Let me explain why this is useful for me. I use the Adobe CS4 suite and it would be nice to have multiple keyboards with the shortcut stickers applied for each without having to switch each keyboard out for each application.


  6. Phil said on : July 23rd, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Also, it doesn’t seem to work with USB touchscreens at all. Anyone know of anything that will allow multiple touchscreens to control one computer?


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