3D Mouse™

The Intelligent Earth 3D Mouse™ is low-cost untethered 3D spatial input device using an optical system such as a webcam for primary position/orientation detection. The webcam sits on top of the screen looking out into the room, and the 3D Mouse™ software detects the position and movement of the 3D Mouse™ in the room and then calculates the intended movement of the cursor or other virtual device on the screen.

A family of closely-related products are available for licensing in the following industry sectors:

Computer Games

The 3D Mouse™ in the games market can be used as an inexpensive device for controlling onscreen swords, guns, shields, and other virtual devices.

The 3D Mouse™ can also be used as bodywear adornments (caps, bibs) for body position input.

Business and Home Computing

A 'sofa-based' 3D Mouse™ input allows for scenarios where the computer users sit less than 3m away from their PC and uses the 3D Mouse™ to move the cursor around the screen. The distance from the screen can be increased depending on the resolution/optics on the webcam.

Interactive Television

A 3D virtual world remote control for Set Top Box manufacturers, firmware developers and interactive digital application authors. In this context the 3D Mouse™ allows users to browse the web from the comfort of their sofa in a more direct way rather than the current sequential cycling through menus. The 3D Mouse™ can also be used for interactive tv and computer games piped through the STB.

Public Access Computing

The low-cost of the 3D Mouse™/wand devices opens up the possibility for public computing such as public digital message boards, licensed graffitti sites, Bus stop entertainment and so on. Pens to work with the system could be made available on application to the local Council, or corporate entity.

Body Suits for Entertainment, Sports, Physiotherapy, Medical, and Disabilities Applications

Inexpensive 3D body suit inputs for Computer Graphics creation when worn by actors - as used in game development and computer graphics for film and television. Also of use to suppliers of animatronics for film and TV requiring real-time untethered input.

Body suits fitted with the 3D Mouse™ can also be used for detailed performance capture in sports such as golf, tennis, and martial arts where exact analysis and improvement of form often leads to performance gains.

The type of 3D Mouse™ body suit analysis described above may also be applied for medical purposes involving analysis of human gait. For users with disabilities the 3D Mouse™ can also be used as a desktop mouse replacement for those with limited motor control in their hands, i.e. suited for users with Quadriplegia, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other disabilities.

Manufacturing, robotics, automation, and control

The 3D Mouse™ is also a useful way of giving robotics and artificial intelligences real-time feedback on the position and orientation of machinery & robotic parts in assembly line situations and in other industrial environments where robots have a degree of self-positioning related to their task. The 3D Mouse™ can be positioned at strategic points in the environment to give millimetre precise accuracy using AI visual observation. Alternatively, the 3D Mouse™ can be positioned on the robot itself to give another channel for proprioception or body self-awareness.