
From the human user's perspective, the process of reading or seeing these representations is receiving output this type of interaction between computers and humans is studied in the field of human–computer interaction. Similarly, printers and monitors take signals that computers output as input, and they convert these signals into a representation that human users can understand. Mice and keyboards take physical movements that the human user outputs and convert them into input signals that a computer can understand the output from these devices is the computer's input.

The designation of a device as either input or output depends on perspective. Any interaction with the system by an interactor is an input and the reaction the system responds is called the output. Devices for communication between computers, such as modems and network cards, typically perform both input and output operations. For instance, a keyboard or computer mouse is an input device for a computer, while monitors and printers are output devices. I/O devices are the pieces of hardware used by a human (or other system) to communicate with a computer. The term can also be used as part of an action to "perform I/O" is to perform an input or output operation. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system and outputs are the signals or data sent from it. In computing, input/output ( I/O, i/o, or informally io or IO) is the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer, and the outside world, possibly a human or another information processing system.

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