A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect

The auditorium in San Francisco in which the presentation was given

A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect was a presentation given by Doug Engelbart in 1968 that was the first public example of a computer mouse, a computer using raster-scan video monitors, screen windowing, and hypertext links.

The system used was called the On-Line System. The system began development in 1962.

It was publicly shown at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco in December 1968.

Hardware

There was a keyboard, mouse, and chorded keyset interface. In about 2025, the keyset was loaned to Ken Shirriff.

A mouse was shown with a connecting wire coming out the lower part on a live remote video feed.

References

• "oN-Line System". 1962-02-01. https://www.darpa.mil/node/2102.
• "A USB interface to the "Mother of All Demos" keyset". 1988-09-05. https://www.righto.com/2025/03/mother-of-all-demos-usb-keyset-interface.html.