3Dconnexion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3Dconnexion, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Logitech International S.A., manufacturers a line of human interface devices for manipulating and navigating computer generated 3D imagery. These devices are often referred to as 3D motion controllers, 3D navigation devices, 6DOF devices (six degrees of freedom) or a 3D mouse.
Commonly utilized in CAD applications, 3d modeling, animation, 3D visualization and product visualization, users can manipulate the controller's pressure-sensitive handle (historically referred to as either a cap, ball, mouse or knob) to fly through 3d environments or manipulate 3D models within an application. The appeal of these devices over a mouse and keyboard is the ability to pan, zoom and rotate 3d imagery simultaneously, without stopping to change directions using keyboard short cuts or a software interface. 3Dconnexion devices are compatible with over 100 applications including Google Earth, NASA World Wind, Virtual Earth 3D, Google SketchUp 6, Maya, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks and more [1]
[edit] Products
- SpaceNavigator™
- SpaceExplorer™
- SpacePilot™
- SpaceTraveler™
- SpaceBall™
- SpaceMouse™
[edit] History
3Dconnexion was formed in September 2001 by Logitech, combining the resources of two industry leaders – LogiCAD3D, based in Europe, and Labtec’s 3D peripheral business, based in the United States. The two companies had been the de facto industry standards for 3D input devices and together represented more than 20 years of experience in 3D navigation.
LogiCAD3D's signature product, the Magellan™ controller, has been widely used in fields such as automotive design and the aerospace industry. In fact, the original Magellan product was used in a NASA project, where it controlled a robot in space.
Since its introduction, the Labtec 3D controller ("SpaceBall®") has found strong support among leading 3D application vendors and major workstation OEMs worldwide. Like Magellan, the SpaceBall also had a history in space, having been used to remotely drive the Sojourner robot on Mars.
