An optical navigation device 101, 434 for determining movement relative to an object includes a source of optical radiation 103, 411 for illuminating the object 102, 418, and a detector 104, 416 for capturing phase patterns in the optical radiation returning 112, 412'' from the object. The phase patterns are correlated with optical nonuniformities 502 of the object. A system is provided for controlling a positional pointer on a computer screen 632 using a mouse 634, 741 to detect movement 107-108, 512-514 relative to an object 102, 418. The system creates interferograms 521-524, each such interferogram being unique to a portion of the object over which the mouse moves, and converts 105 successive pairs of unique interferograms into signals corresponding to relative movement between the mouse and the object. The source 103, 411 of optical radiation may be selected from a list including diode emitters, LEDs, multimode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), laser diodes, and white light.
Optical navigation device, method for determining relative movement between an optical navigation device and an object, and optical mouse