3Dconnexion: SpaceMouse

3Dconnexion: SpaceMouse:



'via Blog this'





I may be in love.  Although this is the sort of product I will want to try before I buy.



I don't do much 3D, although my daughter does.



I would be happy to try/buy this device, if it is usable for trackball-comparable navigation - it probably needs good ballistics.   However, 3DConnexion selling kits of the 3D device in conjunction with a fancy mouse for selection make me worried that the 3D device is not precise enough.   Although it might be a question of scene motion vs pointer motion, segregated by device.

Apart from 3D, the fancier versions of these have many
buttons, reducing greatly the need to move hands between pointing device and
keyboard:

• Even
  the most basic compact SpaceMouse has two buttons – not much, but they can
  open radial menus, which Bill Joy says can be much more efficient that
  linear menus
• Radial
  menus in AHK have been a project for my copious spare time
• the
  fancier “Pro” version has
• 4
  function keys
• But
  more importantly
• Left
  side

§  3
modifiers – control, alt, shift – which if fully chordable, gives 8x the bindings

§  ESCape
and MENU keys

• Right
  side
• 6
  keys

I would that these are not
hardwired, and/or can be redefimned so that they can be usefully hooked in AHK,

 but even if not, the modifier keys and ESCape
would help greatly in menu navigation and selection without using the pointing
device

• The
  top of the line “Enterprise” version has
• Total
  8 keys on left – the Pro 6, plus Enter and Space
• Total
  11 keys on left – although looks likely to be not as programmable as I
  would like
• Most
  notably
• 12
  “programmable” function keys on top

with a small LCD screen
that can switch to show current bindings.

Not quite the Optimus
Maximus keyboard with OLED keytops,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Maximus_keyboard

Nor the Sonder keyboard
with e-Ink keytops

https://sonderdesign.com/keyboard/

but steps towards the holii
grailii

I think that I may be in love!

I think that I would like to buy this device with a
trackball in the middle, not necessarily the 3D 6dof device.  But if the 3D device works, sure.

But this is the sort of device that I would like to try before
I buy.  Even with full-$$$ refund, returning
it if it doesn’t work is a hassle.