Editing Computer mouse (section)

=== 3D mice ===
{{Redirect|SpaceBall|other uses|Spaceball (disambiguation)}}A 3D mouse is a computer input device for [[viewport]] interaction with at least three degrees of freedom ([[Degrees of freedom (mechanics)|DoF]]), e.g. in [[3D computer graphics]] software for manipulating virtual objects, navigating in the viewport, defining camera paths, posing, and desktop [[motion capture]]. 3D mice can also be used as [[Game controller|spatial controllers]] for [[video game]] interaction, e.g. [[SpaceOrb 360]]. To perform such different tasks the used [[transfer function]] and the device stiffness are essential for efficient interaction.

==== Transfer function ====
The virtual motion is connected to the 3D mouse control handle via a [[transfer function]]. Position control means that the virtual [[Position (geometry)|position]] and [[Orientation (geometry)|orientation]] is proportional to the mouse handle's deflection whereas velocity control means that [[Translation (geometry)|translation]] and [[Rotation (mathematics)|rotation]] [[velocity]] of the controlled object is proportional to the handle deflection. A further essential property of a transfer function is its interaction metaphor:

* Object-in-hand metaphor: An exterocentrical metaphor whereby the scene moves in correspondence with the input device. If the handle of the input device is twisted clockwise the scene rotates clockwise. If the handle is moved left the scene shifts left, and so on.
* Camera-in-hand metaphor: An egocentrical metaphor whereby the user's view is controlled by direct movement of a virtual camera. If the handle is twisted clockwise the scene rotates counter-clockwise. If the handle is moved left the scene shifts right, and so on.

[https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Exploration-and-virtual-camera-control-in-virtual-Ware-Osborne/8be4773bb1bb658e3f7b1b3947a1fc578f276be8 Ware and Osborne] performed an experiment investigating these metaphors whereby it was shown that there is no single best metaphor. For manipulation tasks, the object-in-hand metaphor was superior, whereas for navigation tasks the camera-in-hand metaphor was superior.

==== Device stiffness ====
[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/33799780_Human_performance_in_six_degree_of_freedom_input_control_microform Zhai] used and the following three categories for device stiffness:

* [[Isotonic (exercise physiology)|Isotonic]] Input: An input device with zero stiffness, that is, there is no self-centering effect.
* [[Elasticity (physics)|Elastic]] Input: A device with some stiffness, that is, the forces on the handle are proportional to the deflections.
* [[Isometric exercise|Isometric]] Input: An elastic input device with infinite stiffness, that is, the device handle does not allow any deflection but records force and torque.

==== Isotonic 3D mice ====
[[Logitech]] 3D Mouse (1990) was the first ultrasonic mouse and is an example of an isotonic 3D mouse having six degrees of freedom (6DoF). Isotonic devices have also been developed with less than 6DoF, e.g. the Inspector at Technical University of Denmark (5DoF input).

Other examples of isotonic 3D mice are [[motion controller]]s, i.e. is a type of [[game controller]] that typically uses accelerometers to track motion. Motion tracking systems are also used for [[motion capture]] e.g. in the film industry, although that these tracking systems are not 3D mice in a strict sense, because motion capture only means recording 3D motion and not 3D interaction.

==== Isometric 3D mice ====
Early 3D mice for velocity control were almost ideally isometric, e.g. [[Spaceball (computing)|SpaceBall]] 1003, 2003, 3003, and a device developed at [[German Aerospace Center|Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt]] (DLR), cf. US patent US4589810A.

==== Elastic 3D mice ====
At DLR an elastic 6DoF sensor was developed that was used in Logitech's SpaceMouse and in the products of [[3Dconnexion|3DConnexion]]. SpaceBall 4000 FLX has a maximum deflection of approximately {{cvt|3|mm}} at a maximum force of approximately 10N, that is, a stiffness of approximately {{cvt|33|N/cm}}. SpaceMouse has a maximum deflection of {{cvt|1.5|mm}} at a maximum force of {{cvt|4.4|N}}, that is, a stiffness of approximately {{cvt|30|N/cm}}. Taking this development further, the softly elastic Sundinlabs SpaceCat was developed. SpaceCat has a maximum translational deflection of approximately {{cvt|15|mm}} and maximum rotational deflection of approximately 30° at a maximum force less than 2N, that is, a stiffness of approximately {{cvt|1.3|N/cm}}. With SpaceCat [https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Softly-Elastic-6-DOF-Input-Sundin-Fjeld/e2056bb1bcf701c424ee95d48f0605c58b6197cf Sundin and Fjeld] reviewed five comparative experiments performed with different device stiffness and transfer functions and performed a further study comparing 6DoF softly elastic position control with 6DoF stiffly elastic velocity control in a positioning task. They concluded that for positioning tasks position control is to be preferred over velocity control. They could further conjecture the following two types of preferred 3D mouse usage:

* Positioning, manipulation, and docking using isotonic or softly elastic position control and an object-in-hand metaphor.
* Navigation using softly or stiffly elastic rate control and a camera-in-hand metaphor.

[[3Dconnexion|3DConnexion]]'s 3D mice have been commercially successful over decades. They are used in combination with the conventional mouse for [[CAD]]. The Space Mouse is used to orient the target object or change the viewpoint with the non-dominant hand, whereas the dominant hand operates the computer mouse for conventional CAD [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] operation. This is a kind of space-multiplexed input where the 6 DoF input device acts as a graspable user interface that is always connected to the view port.

{{Cleanup section|reason=conflation of devices that you wave around above the desk with devices that remain on the desk while you apply forces and torques to them.|date=April 2020}}

==== Force feedback ====
With [[Haptic technology|force feedback]] the device stiffness can dynamically be adapted to the task just performed by the user, e.g. performing positioning tasks with less stiffness than navigation tasks.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Logitech spacemouse 3D-IMG 8429-black.jpg|Logitech spacemouse 3D. On display at the [[Bolo Computer Museum]], [[École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne|EPFL]], Lausanne
File:Silicon Graphics Ball-IMG 4192.jpg|Silicon Graphics SpaceBall model 1003 (1988), allowing manipulation of objects with [[six degrees of freedom]]
File:Logitech 3D ultrasonice mouse 1990-IMG 7952-gradient.jpg|Logitech 3D Mouse (1990), the first ultrasonic mouse
File:Space-Navigator.jpg|A modern six-degrees-of-freedom (6 DOF) 3D mouse (2007)
File:Spaceball 4000 FLX - Optical Assembly.JPG|Mechanism of the modern 6 DOF mouse consisting of infrared LEDs and detectors with occluders that move with the ball
</gallery>