3DConnexion SpaceNavigator gets unboxed

We've seen the official images, but those itching for a better look at 3DConnexion's new SpaceNavigator 3D mouse for laptops can now get their fix courtesy of Flickr user zeta.phoenix, who has kindly chronicled the traditional unboxing process for us. As you can see above, the peripheral definitely won't take up too much space in your laptop bag, and the just-long-enough USB cable means it likely won't be doing double duty on your desktop (at least without an extension). If that's whet your appetite, you can find plenty more pics where it came from by hitting up the link below.

[Thanks, Jon]

[Fernando @ Apr 11th 2008 9:09PM]

I can't take my eyes off that dr pepper

[spacegravity4me @ Apr 11th 2008 9:26PM]

you mean your eye.

[Neebs @ Apr 11th 2008 9:51PM]

Exactly my feeling. I didn't know what the article was about, I was just thinking about a cold, condensing on the outside, unopened Dr Pepper...

[Aguiluz @ Apr 11th 2008 9:52PM]

Judging from the label, it tastes like pepper, right?

[rockintom @ Apr 12th 2008 11:04AM]

As much as I think you're getting paid to say that... goddamn a Dr Pepper really would be amazing right now :(

[Jeff @ Apr 11th 2008 9:13PM]

Mmmmmm, refreshing.

[Aguiluz @ Apr 11th 2008 9:53PM]

Gawdnessesness... You find drinking PEPPER refreshing?

This is so weird. No offense.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Apr 11th 2008 9:15PM]

Question is: does it require drivers?

To be perfectly honest, I stopped buying most of PC hardware solely because of drivers. Under Linux you do not have drivers for new hardware. Under Windows they crash applications/OS all the time.

[ethana2 @ Apr 11th 2008 10:43PM]

I switched from Gutsy to Hardy long before release for hardware drivers alone.
...all our stuff works basically perfectly.

They don't need to write drivers, they can just send specs at Novell and tell them to get on it, and they will ;) To hold back in the face of such an option is nothing if not shortsighted.

[Kamokazi @ Apr 11th 2008 10:44PM]

What kind of junk hardware do you buy? I use a lot of different peripherals and internal hardware, and I generally don't have many issues. Some driver packages are a little bloated, but as for outright bugginess, it's not terribly common. You're bound to run into it once in a while, but is everything in life hassle-free?

As far as Linux drivers go, the commnity pretty good at providing drivers on most types of hardware, you just generally have to do a little of hunting on your own in some cases. There are certain things that are problematic (laptop WLAN chipsets come to mind), but overall it's not bad. If you're using Linux you should expect things like that anyway. (Just because you can burn an Ubuntu ISO and install it does not mean you automatically know how to handle it.)

[Wwhat @ Apr 12th 2008 6:59PM]

It has drivers yes, for more than one system.
WinXP/vista/2000
linux (32 & 64 bit + maya plugins)
Mac OS-X

[Flashpoint @ Apr 11th 2008 9:24PM]

can I play Crysis with it?

[Wwhat @ Apr 12th 2008 7:01PM]

It's not good for games reviewers say.

[nxtiak @ Apr 11th 2008 9:32PM]

I don't understand what it's suppose to do

[austin @ Apr 11th 2008 9:34PM]

it navigates you through space.

kind of like a guide that you pay $129 for and it will take you through space

[ethana2 @ Apr 11th 2008 10:44PM]

It will Blend.

www.blender.org
That is the point. ...And all you idiots (you know who you are) who pollute the internet by referring to actual food blenders can leave us alone.

[amoose136 @ Apr 12th 2008 7:54AM]

@ethana2
Exactly. More then that though, there are custom builds made by 3DConnexion to bring more features then what the driver will give you. However, I think it will set you back if you have been using SVN stuff. (Their builds are a little behind SVN.) Oh, and if you haven't looked at the SVN builds, EVERYTHING will now blend but clouds and they can be done with Alan's Cloud Generator.

[Outinthedark @ Apr 11th 2008 9:50PM]

My work bought one of these for me as I primarily use Maya or 3DS to build concept models.

It's absolute garbage IMHO...I gave it to my cubicle mate who used it every once in a while but eventually it just became a conversation piece when architects walked by our desks...the conversation usually went something like..."You want it? I need more room anyways for my wacom..."

I really don't know what it really is supposed to be used for?Best use we found for this pathetic input device is navigating Google Earth...

[sim @ Apr 13th 2008 5:16PM]

You do 3d and you cant find a use for a spacemouse? Seriously?
I've been doing 3d cad and FE for about 8 years and I hate working without one. There is NO easier way to manipulate the orientation of a 3d object that I've found than to have something that you can twist push and pull. You dont have a user interface paradigm to get used to, you just treat it as the selected object and manipulate it as you want to manipulate the thing on screen.

[ethana2 @ Apr 11th 2008 10:45PM]

*sigh*
Second best, third best. .....and the hardware gets blamed again.

[Wwhat @ Apr 12th 2008 7:03PM]

OLOL, you don't have your own cubicle yet eh, perhaps one day though! and then only the sky is the limit, perhaps you'll even be allowed to serve in the lunchroom!

[Outinthedark @ Apr 14th 2008 11:24AM]

@Wwhat

Actually I have already moved onto bigger and better things. My previous company could not afford me so I moved onto my other freelance options and have already started up my own llc. I'm trying to do what's best for myself seeing as I have my whole life ahead of me being only 21 and all. I have two projects at the moment that are going to pull in my entire years salary at the previous job in less than half the time.

Is it your call in life to be an internet asshat?

@ Sim

Sorry but Alt+LMB/MMB/RMB works just as fine for $150 less. I don't need to navigate around my models more than I do build. I use my keyboard for all of my simple shortcuts and anything else I use the right click/spacebar menu.

Not to mention this is not supported yet with Revit.

Sorry the SpaceNavigator products are garbage IMHO. Why anyone would need a portable one is beyond me.

Also my work had gotten me the SpacePilot to use. I set it all up and genuinely tried to use it. My keyboard shortcuts are far more important. Anyone who knows how to use 3DS or Maya efficiently with a mouse and keyboard do not need one of these.

[ArthurHitler @ Apr 11th 2008 9:52PM]

my english is poor..is there anyone want to help me to study english?by the way ,is there some one used Tencent QQ?
A im software

[Aguiluz @ Apr 11th 2008 9:56PM]

Practice makes perfect. Just keep on reading English and you will learn it. That's what I did.

[Kamokazi @ Apr 11th 2008 10:53PM]

Like he said, just keep at it. And your English is not too bad...I work with a lot of people from the Philippines, and you definately qualify as above average.

This really isn't the best place to ask for English speaking advice. I would try searching on Google and finding places like this:

http://www.englishclub.com/esl-forums/index.php

[Aguiluz @ Apr 11th 2008 11:31PM]

"I work with a lot of people from the Philippines,"

Hey! I came from there!

But I would like to credit Engadget for hours of reading that made my English this good.

[Wwhat @ Apr 12th 2008 7:04PM]

Just say you are an american, and a youtube commenter, then people won't expect much from your english :x

[Mark Nelson @ Apr 11th 2008 9:59PM]

I've had one for a year now and it's a very well made device. Surprisingly heavy for its size (so it won't move when you manipulate it).

However - is this a paid advertisement?

This is the second mention this week and I still am not sure how this $129 version is any different from the (identical?) one I paid $55 for last year...

[nh @ Apr 12th 2008 10:01AM]

It's about half the size of the one you have. That's a 355ml can, not whatever giant size you buy ;)

[ryan @ Apr 11th 2008 10:20PM]

Im still not sure how turning (what looks like) a knob can cause the mouse to move on more than 1 axis

[ryan @ Apr 11th 2008 10:21PM]

and by mouse I mean cursor

[sim @ Apr 13th 2008 5:16PM]

cos it can detect movement in 6 directions (3 trans 3 rot). You just twist push or pull it to manipulate whatever object your working on on screen. (I've never used it for excel etc, although I know the drivers can be set up to do that. not sure what you'd use beyond the trans for tho..)

[ethana2 @ Apr 11th 2008 10:47PM]

If you limit your interaction with 3d virtual objects to 2d cursor movement, you're missing the point entirely.

[nh @ Apr 12th 2008 10:07AM]

It's a 6 degree of freedom controller, so it can move your cursor in 6 dimensions.

Except it doesn't move the cursor, it bypasses that stage and moves whatever you are looking at on the screen. When you have been using one for a while it becomes so intuitive it is like YOUR THOUGHTS ARE GOING STRAIGHT INTO THE SCREEN.

[m.edgar @ Apr 12th 2008 10:19AM]

's not just a knob...you can twist it like a knob, move it like a joystick (left, right, forwards backwards) and push it in /out like a button.

[momotarosan @ Apr 12th 2008 9:26AM]

couldn't you use a wii remote for this?

[nh @ Apr 12th 2008 10:11AM]

No.

[m.edgar @ Apr 12th 2008 10:16AM]

I've written a GlovePIE script to do exactly that, and the answer is:

No.

Or, to be more precise: absolutely not.

There's a number of problems with a wiimote/nunchuck or just the wiimote. First of all is the fact that the wiimote is just not precise enough to manipulate vertexes or place features at the correct spot. Secondly, the hand-off-mouse-point-at-screen really gets in the way of using keyboard shortcuts, and any pro-ish user will tell you you can't be efficient without using hotkeys efficiently.

As for the SpaceExplorer...I can very well believe it's a usefull device. Instead of using key board shortcuts (qwer is where my left hand rests and I have my right hand using mouse buttons 3 and 4 for rotation/panning), a short trip to the left seems like a nice easy move (as oposed to picking up a wiimote or fiddling with alt+mouse) whilst I can use my mouse to manipulate stuff.

I'm actually getting my Space Explorer in on monday, according to UPS. I really hope I can grab a vert and keep it whilst I rotate the model. If I can do that, then modeling will be revolutionised for me. If I can't, even then the money will be well spent for the efficiency on rotation/panning and the four programmable buttons (which I think I'll make into w, e, r and a pan/zoom/rotate toggle)

[marc @ Apr 12th 2008 10:24AM]

I've had the older version of the spacetraveler for about 2 or 3 years. I'm a structural engineer, so i use it in cad, excel, word, and photo editing programs. While it is intended for use with 3d objects, i find it works best for saving your wrist when having to pan or zoom through 2d reports and spreadsheets. As for HOW you use it, you do not move the base around, it stays in one place and you push on the top knob to move in any direction or rotate (think of it as an oversized eraser head mouse on a laptop). Personally i think it's awesome and use it daily, but it does take some getting used to and the software can be quirky to set up.

as for why this keeps getting fpp, i'm not sure, i mean, i've had an older version for 2-3 years and the new (cheap) version came out several months ago...what gives?

[Phoenix @ Apr 12th 2008 1:29PM]

This is a smaller version for laptops ;)

[Dave Storm @ Apr 12th 2008 3:56PM]

I've used the regular desktop sized SpaceNavigator for 3D CAD work in Pro-E and SolidWorks for about a year now, and I can't imagine working without it. The device replaces the need to use the mouse to spin/rotate/manipulate the 3D model. It lets me use my left hand for navigation and my right hand for selection. Highly recommended for CAD applications, I imagine it would be just as useful for any 3D modeling programs. I havent found any useful application of it for regular computing, such as Firefox, Word, Excel, etc.

Check out the sample videos on the 3dconexion website for examples of how its used.

[asribniak @ Apr 12th 2008 3:41AM]

I'm not quite sure what the benefit of not using the mouse to pan/rotate/zoom without the mouse. In Pro/E at least, you can do 2 of the three without your left hand, and panning requires it anyways, so you aren't saving anything, but you are using your left hand a lot more! Once you get used to zooming and rotating in pro/e its pretty easy to manipulate an object quickly with the mouse.

Also, i dont quite understand your point of using the mouse to select only. I can't think of one time where i had to pan/rotate/zoom while at the same time needing to select something. Maybe i am missing your reasoning here. Maybe because you can kind of do them at the same time with this device?

We have a sample at work, but i haven't had the chance to use it yet. The guy that has been using it says he sees no use for it, at least for what we are doing, designing plastic parts and injection molds. I'll have to get it and play around with it a bit.

[Dave Storm @ Apr 12th 2008 11:24AM]

@ asribniak:

You absolutely can use the mouse for all rotation/pan/zoom functions in Pro-E. The SpaceNavigator just lets you split the work between both hands. I'm 25 and could feel ome pain in my wrist from a long day of CAD work, so I decided to split up the work and save my wrists as much as possible.

As an example of how its used: I work on a lot of cast & forged parts, with lots of fillets/rounds in the model. With a mouse, when you're trying to select edges on different sides of the model to round, you'd have to select one edge, then use the mouse to rotate the model, then select the other edge. With the SpaceNavigator you can select the edge then right away rotate using your left hand, and select the other edge.

I believe the company is pretty good about sending out demo units. Just keep in mind there is a couple day learning curve before you get used to it, so you have to give it a chance. I've let some of our other engineers and designers try mine for a few days, and the department is now considering making them standard equipment.

[TNP @ Apr 13th 2008 11:37AM]

I use one at work too and it is just about required for 3D CAD work. But even though I have it sitting on top of an anti-skid pad taped to my desk, I still end up slowly pushing the whole controller around instead of just the cap. I've fiddled around with the sensivity and speed settings, but I still end up shoving it around.

[Matthew @ Apr 13th 2008 9:19PM]

I loveee these things for maya and 3ds. I upgraded from the nav to the explorer though. It's a lot of fun to use.

[Chris in CA @ Apr 14th 2008 11:33AM]

Am I the only one that thinks this would be awesome with Bluetooth?

[duckpoops @ Apr 14th 2008 9:15PM]

BT would be pretty cool on this

[Nelson @ Apr 14th 2008 10:55PM]

Thats 23 flavors! I just don't know what the other 22 are, sh*t thats dangerous.

[jun @ May 10th 2008 3:25AM]

G'Day, you can get all the 3Dconnexion products online with an Australian Distributor at http://tip.com.au has the lowest prices for Australian users. Hope this helps the Aussies.