The SpaceOrb 360 is a

6DOF Six degrees of freedom (6DOF) refers to the six mechanical degrees of freedom of movement of a rigid body in three-dimensional space. Specifically, the body is free to change position as forward/backward (surge), up/down (heave), left/right ...

computer input device that is designed to be operated with two hands. Each of the 6 axes have 10-bit precision each when measuring the amount of force or torque applied. It has two right-index-finger buttons and four right-thumb buttons. It interfaces with a computer through an

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' ('' data terminal equipment'') suc ...

serial port using a custom binary protocol. Drivers for the device exist for

Mac OS Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded " ...

, Microsoft Windows and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...

. Logitech had similar 6DOF devices during the same time period called the Cyberman and Cyberman II. The device was released in 1996, the same year as popular 3D games such as ''

Descent II ''Descent II'' is a 1996 first-person shooter game developed by Parallax Software and first published for DOS by Interplay Productions. For the PlayStation, it is known as ''Descent Maximum''. It is the second installment in the ''Descent ...

'' and '' Quake''. It was originally called the Spaceball Avenger II, a sequel to SpaceTec's Spaceball Avenger. The SpaceOrb was especially suited for the gameplay of ''Descent'' because of the complete freedom-of-motion afforded by its

rendering engine Rendering or image synthesis is the process of generating a photorealistic or non-photorealistic image from a 2D or 3D model by means of a computer program. The resulting image is referred to as the render. Multiple models can be define ...

. There was strong support for the device in both ''Quake'' and ''

Quake II ''Quake II'' is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the ''Quake'' series, but not a direct sequel to '' Quake''. The game's storyline is continued in its e ...

'', but the

WASD WASD may refer to: * Wallenpaupack Area School District * WASD keys Arrow keys or cursor movement keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor in a specified direction. The term "cursor ...

-type keyboard-and-mouse controls eventually became more popular. As of the ''

Half-Life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable at ...

'' engine (based on the original ''Quake source''), there was specific support for the SpaceOrb's capabilities. Developers later started to drop variable movement speed support, which reduced the 10bit translation force measurement to 1bit per direction. It was originally manufactured and sold by the SpaceTec IMC company (first bought by

Labtec Labtec Inc. was a manufacturer of computer accessories, founded in Vancouver, Washington, United States in 1982. They were best known for their budget range of peripherals such as keyboards, mice, microphones, speakers and webcams. Originall ...

, which itself was later bought by

Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe ...

). The device is no longer sold nor supported by Logitech. It has been supplanted by more modern devices sold under Logitech's

3Dconnexion 3Dconnexion is a German manufacturer 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 f ...

brand, which are all one-handed 3DMice that afford the other hand the freedom to interact with the keyboard/mouse. In 2009, a SpaceOrb fan with the username "vputz" has designed

Arduino Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed und ...

add ons (OrbDuino, OrbShield, Orbotron) to make SpaceOrbs available over USB, making it compatible with modern operating systems by emulating joystick, mouse, and/or keyboard.

ASCII Sphere 360

ASCII Entertainment (later

Agetec Agetec Inc. ("ASCII Game Entertainment Technology") is an American video game publishing company that is best known for bringing Japanese titles to the United States. The company was formed through ASCII Corporation, spinning off their American d ...

) bought the SpaceOrb 360 design and technology license to manufacture the ''ASCII Sphere 360'' model for the original Sony

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

References

{{reflist

External links

www.jaycrowe.com
is Birdman's SpaceOrb Messageboard.

AGETEC ASCII Sphere 360 product page.

LGR Oddware: SpaceOrb 360 RealLife 3D Game Controller Pointing devices Computing input devices History of human–computer interaction Video game control methods