testimonials

See what other people have said…
(Also, search the internet!)


3D mice

  • CAD CAM CNC in January 2024
    CD Lewis asked,
    “… I don’t know anybody actually using them. Is it fair to ask here whether they’re as helpful as ads suggest…”
    CAD CAM CNC replied,
    “Yes, it’s a night n’ day difference. Although, it’s easy to become reliant on various ‘aftermarket’ mods to ones workspace. I also recommend rising above the super duper nature of these amazing devices and exercise your mind to imagine the 3D even without the use of your computer screen. It’s good to exercise the mind and imagine what the 3D can do without all the technology assisting the mind to see.
    “But having direct connection with 6 degrees of freedom to fluently navigate 3D space, I mean what else does that?
    “How many extra clicks and stutters will manifest daily from the regular use of a regular mouse just to navigate 3D? click click click stutter stutter click stutter lol thousands of times a day :sob:
    “Way back in the day when I was in college and exploring all that the 3D modeling industry had to offer, one of the first investments I made immediately was in a $500 spaceball 5000! Plus the addition of CATIA student license. I would literally sit in my home office for countless hours just using the 3D navigator device just mesmerized while navigating around the 3D space of my projects. :star_struck:
    “A few times I’d had roommates that would sit at my computer and had lots of fun using the 3D navigator. They wouldn’t stop though so I’d have to yell at them and kick them off :rofl: :joy: :sob:“

    discourse.mcneel.com – Rhino 8 – Spacemouse ‘jumping’

astroid 6000

  • Greg in August 2021

    “These were also quarter of the price of the 3D Connexion items and cant knock the quality as these have been used eight hours a day for 13 years with no issues at all.”

    retrocomputing.stackexchange.com – What happened to Spatial Freedom and the Astroid controller?

  • Jeff Mirisola in November 2006

    “I’ve been using the Astroid for just over a week and I do like it.”
    “The Astroid does exactly what a designer would want a spatial controller to do.”

    eng-tips.com – My final review on the astroid.

  • Joop in December 2008

    “In the years I’m using it I never had any problem with it.”
    “If I find the Astroid better? I’d say yes because I find it more stable.”
    “Overall, I’m very happy with the Astroid.”

    mcadcentral.com – Dec 16, 2008.

Spaceball

  • Anonymous in December 2002

    “SpaceBall, SpaceMouse, CADMan. I have all three. The most expensive and the one with the most ergonomic development is the SpaceBall. The SpaceMouse and the CADMan are pretty much the same thing. Both the SpaceMouse and CADMan are very touchy and tend to be more sensitive to a
    predominant axis. Some like this sensitivity but it is more difficult to get a smooth 6 axis “flythrough” with a SpaceMouse. I had two people from 3D connexion sitting with me on two computers, one with a SpaceBall and one with a CADMan. It was easy to demonstrate the difference (they took lots of notes).

    “I don’t think they care too much which one you think is better as either way the sale is for their product. My personal preference is for the SpaceBall but I am trying to get them to modify some of the axis preference and hypersensitivity. I would like to see them put in more non-linear acceleration and feedback. You need a lot of control when zoomed in and a lot of speed when zoomed out.” – Anonymous in reply to: Anonymous at 12-13-2002 12:21 PM

    Obsolete link – https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/space-ball-or-space-mouse-or-mouse/td-p/555694

  • glabifrons in January 2023


    “I also have a couple 5000USB models that I was lucky enough to pick up on ebay when all the companies were dumping them off due to Logitech refusing to make drivers for Windows 10. They were trying to use Microsoft’s weight to force companies to replace their spaceballs with new spacemice (which I personally think are a much worse design).” (para 6)

    “Fun fact: You can see a SpaceBall 2003 painted black on K’s desk in Men In Black in the scene where he’s checking in on his long-lost girlfriend. :)” (para 11)

    hackaday.com – Spaceballs Get Serialized

Note: There is a common misconception 3Dconnexion is still owned by Logitech so glabifrons reference to Logitech is likely to be incorrect.

SpaceOrb 360

  • Scott Hansleman interviewed Vic Putz in January 2024

    youtube.com – Saving the SpaceOrb360 with open source hardware and software with Vic Putz

    Scott –   “I want to talk to you about is the SpaceOrb 360, the greatest controller ever created.”

    Vic –   “The SpaceOrb was quite a find at the time. I still regard it as one of the most interesting controllers made in the history of computer games and it’s a bit of a pity that concept hasn’t been picked up on and carried forward. But it still exists today and, yeah, you can still use them.”

  • Clint Basinger reviewed the SpaceOrb 360 in January 2019 – now over 1M views!


    youtube.com – LGR Oddware: SpaceOrb 360 RealLife 3D Game Controller

    “Spacetec IMC was responsible for a range of successful Spaceball 3D input devices. NASA even used one to control their Mars rovers! Then they came out with a PC gamepad in 1996, and eh.”

    John Hilton comments –

    “Even though Clint ends up discounting the SpaceOrb I agree with much of what he says. People can attribute behavior to hardware when it may be the software implementation. Also, he may have had a defective unit without realizing it. Read the video’s comments.”

  • Sean Warren posted the SpaceOrb 360 commercial in April 2020


    youtube.com – SpaceOrb 360 commercial (1996)

  • Also see wikipedia.org.

ASCII Sphere 360

John Hilton comments –

“There was real excitement in the company when embarking on the Sphere 360 project. Emulating eight existing PS1 controllers meant the Sphere 360 would work with all existing PS1 games. It also had its own data protocol. My personal take was skepticism since earlier emulation of the old dial boxes in 3D CAD produced a less than mediocre result. The correct feel needs to be implemented to succeed. Emulating other devices doesn’t achieve this but no one wanted to listen as it would take years to break into the broader games market. Note how the SpaceOrb 360 had huge success with the few PC games when it delivered the right kind of control.

“ASCII Entertainment of Japan did a fantastic job with the design of the Sphere 360. It really is beautiful. I can’t commend them enough.”