Windows radial controller designs

This topic presents information about the radial controller devices that are compatible with Windows 10, version 1607.

Physical design

The physical radial controller device that the user interacts with may have a variety of industrial designs. However, all compatible Windows radial controller devices have a primary button, and a rotational affordance. The following image illustrates how these affordances may be implemented.

an image showing the primary button and rotation affordance of a radial controller.

A radial controller may optionally report its on-screen position. The mechanism for determining the on-screen position is vendor-specific, and therefore a specific implementation is not outlined in this document. However, the method for reporting the on-screen position is standardized and detailed in the following sections.