Decent Off-The-Shelf 3D Movement Controllers?

Milo_Mindbender asks: "I'm working on a project that involves flying/moving around in 3d spaces similar to what you would do in an archetectural walkthrough. I'm looking for a good and fairly natural controller for moving around in 6 degrees of 3D space. Something like the old 'Spaceball' would be great, but the company doesn't seem to make them anymore. Has anyone seen anything that works particularly well? Ideally, something that only requires one hand and is fairly easy for the uninitiated to learn to use."

Comments

Ever heard of Google?

[The Mayor]

Yet another Ask Slashdot submitter that can't use Google. Here, try this.

SpaceOrbs still available

[MrPeach]

I believe cwonline.com still has some in stock, though you're not going to get one cheap.

If he's out, let me know - I have a few dozen hanging around the house.

(I'm a former Spacetec employee and SpaceOrb software team member)

Wheelmouse....

[TBone]

Well, your basic mouse already has 2 axes - Right-Left and Front-Back. Hook the wheel to Up-Down, and you're set.

Even better, use those 3 axes as "throttles", and you won't have to keep picking your mouse up and putting it close to you when you're moving forward a lot. Move forward a bit to start moving forward, move back a bit to stop moving forward.

This space for rent. Call 1-800-STEAK4U

Re:Wheelmouse....

[Chris Hiner]

The part that's still missing with a wheelmouse, is being able to rotate around any axis. This is the big gain with a real 6 degrees of freedom 3D controller.

Re:Now I remember why I didn't buy a SpaceOrb

[El]

This means you MUST use their special drivers, which, er, aren't available for any operating system not controlled by Mr. Gates, are they?

Cyberman

[Ratbert42]

The Logitech Cyberman 2 (http://www.logitech.com/cf/support/cyber2.cfm is ok. I've got one and used it a few times. But for me it doesn't work any better than the plain old Quake style mouse-look movement. 4 keys to move and a mouse (or trackball in my case) to look up and down and rotate. Works better than any expensive controller.

Re:Cyberman

[El]

I have several of them. Problem is 1) Logitech doesn't make these anymore, so you can't find any for sale and 2) These break really, really easily. 3 out of 5 of mine are already broken (there's three springs inside that are soldered into place to keep the puck centered. Any one of them breaks, the whole thing is unusable and as near as I can tell unrepairable)

Yes, I DO like six degrees of freedom; I consider this a prerequisite for games, and I'm actively looking for something to replace my cyberman2. Guess I'll buy some spaceballs (the joystick, not the movie).

Re:Gyros!

[El]

Supports MS-DOS 3.x or later, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, ME, NT and Mac OS 8 and above (with optional USB adapter)

No sir, I do NOT want a GyroPoint...

SpaceBalls and Space Mouses

[LenE]

SpaceBalls and Space Mouses still exist. I use a LogiCad 3D Magellan Plus Space mouse for high-end 3D CAD, and it's awesome. Another guy here used a SpaceBall 3000 FLX, and had no complaints.

There are some drawbacks to these devices though, they cost about $500 (US) and need application specific drivers, in addition to OS level drivers. Most of these devices hook up to standard serial ports and use a proprietary protocol to communicate to the workstation. The other drawback is that as complexity of your 3D scene increases, the lag between your control of the scene and the screen update also increases. Eventually, you may find yourself nudging the controller and then waiting to see that you overshot your desired position. Of course more RAM, faster processors, and most importantly better graphics cards will greatly reduce this problem.

Which OS and program are you looking at using? Most commercial 3D stuff has hooks into the OS level drivers for these devices. Also, most 3D input devices support a wide range of UNIX operating systems, as well as Windows. I'm using my Magellan on sgi IRIX right now.

-- Len

Re:Gyros!

[terpia]

Actually, you are correct, thats what the "officially supported" systems are. Ive had no problems whatsoever connecting it to several Linux ditros, Solaris, OpenBSD, QNX, and BeOS. Its just a ps/2 connected mouse. No special software needed (although a windows program is included that has a few goofy addons). No special OS needed. Not even that many fingers are needed, although an opposable thumb often helps. You just cant call support asking for someone to help you with the unsupported OS's. But really, most people have no problem plugging it into the back of their computer.

Gyros!

[terpia]

You want a gyroscopically controlled wireless mouse it sounds like - I happen to have a ton of experience with these units (supporting and using them) http://www.gyration.com. I like the GyroPoint the most out of all the units. They have a nice range (70'), and all you need to do is rotate your wrist slightly.

Flying Mice are working on one, but...

[armb]

it's not ready yet.

http://flyingmice.com

(Hmm - just says "advanced devices" now. It used to say something about 6-degrees-of-freedom input devices).

--

Now I remember why I didn't buy a SpaceOrb

[El]

The stupid thing uses a serial port, NOT the joystick port. Don't ask me why they couldn't do a version that plugged into the joystick port.