A steering wheel input device is mounted on a vehicle steering wheel and includes a pointer detection device detecting a pointer event on a pointer detection surface, any movement or breaking of the pointer event, and the speed, velocity, and acceleration of the pointer event, and outputs a corresponding pointer detection signal. The steering wheel input device also includes a rotation angle sensor and a processor. The rotation angle sensor takes measurements related to an angle of rotation of the steering wheel and outputs a corresponding rotation detection signal. The processor determines the angle of rotation of the steering wheel using the rotation detection signal, determines which gesture that the pointer detection signal corresponds to using the pointer detection signal and the angle of rotation of the steering wheel, and outputs a command corresponding to the gesture. The command can serve as input to control vehicular systems.
