High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Stanford Research Institute`s Augmentation Research Center (ARC) was founded in the 1960s by electrical engineer Douglas Engelbart to develop and experiment with new tools and techniques for collaboration and information processing. The main product to come out of ARC was the revolutionary oN-Line System, better known by its odd abbreviation, NLS. ARC is also known for the invention of the "computer mouse" pointing device, and its role in the early formation of the Internet. Engelbart recruited workers and ran the organization until the late 1970s when the project was commercialized.