Referent identification in human conversation is performed both by describing the objects in question and by pointing at them. Up till now, only the linguis- tic component could be simulated in dialog systems. But recently, technical innovations have made it possible to 'point' at the objects on a display as well. The paper has two intentions. First, it investigates nat- ural pointing in more detail and offers some possibilities to classify the great variety of pointing actions. Then, it tries to clarify the extent to which pointing by techni- cal means (especially mouse-clicks) can be regarded as a simulation of natural pointing or as a functional equiv- alent. Furthermore, some steps towards even more ac- curate simulation are briefly mentioned.

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