The present invention is an optical electronic input device for identifying the coordinates of an object in a given area. The device may capture two-dimensional or three-dimensional input information, using a minimal number of optical units (one for two dimensional coordinates and two for three dimensional coordinates). The invention requires only basic optical elements such as a photo sensing unit, lenses, a light source, filters and shutters which may reduce manufacturing costs significantly. Since this device enables inputting the coordinates of an object in a set area, it may not only be used in systems such as optical touch screens, but also in virtual keyboard applications and in implementation for machine vision.