DALLAS, TX (Siemens PLM Connection 2013) June 5, 2013 - If you are serious about 3D, chances are that you have a 3D input device or
you are considering
one. It may surprise you to know it is more than a one horse race, with
3Dconnexion the only one running. The SpaceController, being shown at the annual
meeting of Siemens PLM users, offers an alternative.
I found the SpaceController booth tucked away in the back of the Expo Hall at the Siemens PLM. To see the SpaceController device is to first wonder "Where have you been all my life?" followed immediately with "How is this not the same as the 3Dconnexion device?" Both are black, sleek with an array of button and a few blue lights.
SpaceController also makes a nice looking 3D input device, shown here at the Siemens PLM annual user meeting.
On hand were Marc Weigand, SpaceController's director of marketing, and Branden Loock, an ardent user -- and the US distributor.
"We have 34 customizable commands," says Branden, who is zipping a 3D model around on the screen with the greatest of ease. "28 commands on the wheel and 6 on the buttons." But I think the other device is also very customizable.
Branden may have been reading my thought bubble. "We're more ergonomic! See the round ball?" he asks, referring to where your hand would rest all day on the device. "We got a hundred customers who switched to us when they [3Dconnexion] switched to a square [cap] style." Hmm, the ball does seem to be more comfortable.
I hear how SpaceController has preset commands for major MCAD software, like Solid Edge, SolidWorks, CATIA, NX and Inventor.
More information can be found at http://www.spacecontrol.de. The company is German but there you can click to an English version. Though listed at 299 Euro ($400) on the website, Branden will ship it to you from his US facility for $309 (see http://www.spacecontroller-us.com/)
SpaceControll was running a show special of $249 for the device. Now, don't you wish you would have gone?