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Linux 3D Input Driver Project Started
zratchet writes "Mikey Lubker reports in his blog that a new project has been started to create drivers for 6-degree-of-freedom 3D input devices. The project hopes to support SDL_Input, XNA, DirectInput, and other major controller API's including game consoles and embedded systems, including controllers for home entertainment systems, robots, modeling clay, games, home automation, and more.
Check out the project here and the (soon to be) tech-demo Snowball Surprise: Adventures in Avatarctica."
Ah..yep.. i too thought that was TuxRacer
Aren't these things better announced when they reach at least 0.1a, or something? If I announce a project to port all of DirectX to Commodore, do I get my own Slashdot article? Even if I never do anything with it?
Sorry... just doing some morning trolling.
Two mice provide 4-D of smooth motion. And you get another 2-D of coarser motion with scroll wheels. This would have applications beyond games as I have seen (but can't find) experiments in the HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) literature on the superiority of dual-cursor interfaces.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I wrote a cool little tool to give 6-degrees input from a single webcam. It tracks the three points of a triangle, and calculates X-Y-Z-tilt-rotation-elevation based on that.
The logarithms to do the calculations are solid - all you need is a better mousetrap than I have for finding the three triangle points in a single image frame (should be very straight forward - mine works but is slow).
Is this old hat, or would there be good value to open-sourcing it? I'll likely never commercialize it on my own.
MadCow.
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
Any support for these 3D input devices? I mean, there are Linux drivers, but as of yet no open source drivers (to my knowledge) for these devices.
My blog
A mouse with a scroll wheel may have 3 axis of movement but it doesn't have 3 dimensions of movement. Use some common sense.
Google for "Spaceorb 360"
or look here:
Birdman's
Are there any details about that controller? This seems like hot air without any pictures descriptions, feature lists or whatever.
Everyone and his cat can register a sourceforge project...
I's bit poor to post this on slashdot IMO
I figure I'm going to need 30 or 40 more degrees of movement.
log to the base 2 of 16 is 4.
Algorithm.
Well, here's two:
- Wing Commander: Privateer Remake
- Vegastrike
See my blog for my free opinions.
Windows only, but works very well.
http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/
'Once scientists, even the dim-witted social scientists, get muzzled, the Western Civilization is finished.' - oldhack
Do they have 3D chicken input? The National University of Singapore seems to be putting a lot of work into it.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I take that back... It IS in there. Nevermind. (goes off grumbling...)
My blog
If you are a 3D gamer, you must try the controller at least once. You might never go back to keyboard and mouse!
I've included the top links for info on its drivers, use, and interface.
I used to work down the hall from Spaceball (Technologies? I forget the full name), in Lowell MA. They had a product called the Spaceball which was a sphere mounted on a base, that you could twist around any of the three axes, and push in the direction of any of the three axes..
So it didn't actually twist much - it sensed your desire to rotate it (the ball stayed in pretty much the same position).. And it didn't move much in either direction either, but it knew when you were lifting it, or pushing it left, or pulling it back, etc.
Anyway, those are your six dimensions.. rotate x,y,z, translate x,y,z.
They made some game controller of it later, but the original was used in high-end cadcam applications etc. Cool device!
..Jeff Keegan
seven syllables explain TiVo: kee gan dot org slash ti vo
Linux already supports the:
And most likely also the newer SpaceBall variants, because they all use USB HID.
All the drivers are GPL and included in the standard kernel release. The CyberMan2 is very cool for playing Descent2 on Linux.
I know it. I wrote the drivers.
It seems the project is more about developing and marketing a new 6dof in a world where all gaming-oriented 6dofs (the SpaceOrb, available on e-bay for a few bucks, the CyberMan / CyberMan2) failed miserably.
The "6 Degree of Freedom" statement is much more important to me than "3D". When you have a 6 DOF controller, you are able to execute every possible motion in 3-space. The 6 DOF controller I used (in a research project associated with the space program) used a sliding controller in the left hand that you could push inward and outward (Z translation), as well as sliding up, down, left, and right (X and Y translation). In the right hand was a conventional joystick, which allowed you to rotate around each axis (pitch, yaw, roll).
The 6 DOF "3D" controller comes from the ability to translate AND rotate around each axis (3 * 2). I can tell you from experience that the brain really has to stretch to use this complex of operation, especially when your command frame (the origin of all of this motion) is moving along with the thing you are controlling. However, once your brain maps the motions, it is an incredible way to operate a precision machine. You can always tell an advanced user by their use of multiple axes at the same time, which leads to more efficient operation (like translating in X and Y at the same time while executing a roll).
And now I'm too old to learn them properly. Pah! I don't need them anyway.
I've got a brand new Competition Pro USB stick and play games as I did 15 years ago.
Excuse me while I have a game of Bubble Bobble.
UnNetHack: NetHack Improved!