inputsystem

An input system is a software layer that collects input from user devices such as keyboards, mice, touchscreens, gamepads, and sensors, and exposes it to an application in a consistent, platform-agnostic form. It decouples hardware details from application logic, enabling developers to respond to actions rather than to specific keys or buttons.

Core concepts typically include devices, controls, actions, bindings, and action maps. A device represents a physical input source; a control is an individual input element (for example, a button, axis, or touch point). An action defines a high-level intent (such as move, jump, or shoot); a binding connects an action to one or more controls. Action maps group related actions for a given context, and control schemes organize bindings for different devices or configurations.

Input systems implement a processing pipeline that may poll device states or receive events, normalize them into a uniform event stream, and dispatch callbacks or events to the application. They maintain input state over time, handle repeats and long presses, and may offer features such as dead zones, smoothing, buffering, and gesture recognition.

Cross-platform support is a common goal, providing consistent behavior across operating systems, devices, and form factors. Tooling often includes editors for binding configuration and test utilities, and the runtime may allow binding changes at run time without recompiling.

In practice, many game engines and frameworks provide an input system module. For example, Unity’s Input System uses action maps, bindings, and control schemes, while other engines offer analogous action-based input APIs to support hot-rebinding and accessibility features.