Dial box

HP dial box

A dial box is a physical device for indirect 3D interaction with a computer system.

Many workstations originally used dial boxes to manipulate objects in 3D space. Each axis has two dials, one for translation, the other for rotation. Additional dials adjusted other functions, such as camera zoom, and scaling. (SGI, HP) While these devices gave users very precise control, they were not natural feeling, or intuitive to operate.