unique PC controllers/HID/immersion DOS thru present?

[hifidelitygaming]

I'm trying to compile up an encyclopedic and complete list of custom PC controllers (DOS, win 3.11, win9x, win XP, win 7) which have ever existed, primarily including all the dead ends and stillborn stuff. I'll eventually put stuff up in a database for anyone to access of course, right now i'm just looking for leads and mentions of whats even out there.

As to why... multiple purposes. I'm trying to understand whats out there, whats been tried, and if there are any good ideas someone had for awhile that might deserve a re visit. I'm also curious whether tracking down some old low interest controller could be a shortcut to more modern VR experiments. (ie - those P5 Glove Controllers for instance, getting one used is alot simpler than trying to homebrew your own) Plus there's just a general curiosity about games that actually supported some of the oddballs giving perhaps a greater immersion at the time than games without the controllers - since i've often found the limit to immersion is not so much graphical or audio quality but the human interface itself.

I'm curious about all forms of input or output OTHER than graphics and sound - whether it's the head tracking supported in a mid 1990's game (with or without one of the few head mounted displays that existed at the time), or things like that 3rd Space Force Vest that simulated impacts to your chest in different locations. Is anyone else willing to pitch in or give leads on things I should research more?

The most obvious common things:
Joysticks/joypads
Mice/trackballs
Keyboards and various expansions which were just pressing extra keys via a keyboard connector

Other than perhaps a series of unique Gravis controllers allowing extra buttons and analog controllers in early games, plus the 4 player GRiP pads, but that's not so much what i'm focusing on. Force feedback joysticks i'll list as unique because the early ones used MIDI control, instead of USB, and were unique to the early win95 era. (dont think there was DOS support)


The next most common:
Driving wheels
Flight yokes

I'd seen these since at least the 386 era, i've no clue whether everything was just using normal gameport hookups/was all cross compatible or needed special drivers (anyone who knows can comment?) but I mostly mention these to get them out of the way.

What i'm far more curious on is anything that doesn't fit into the list above in any way. That was when controllers and such started getting truly unique. An off the cuff list:

---DOS

SpaceOrb 360 - the 6dof ball controller that absolutely ruled Descent matches in the DOS era. (this is the only totally unique DOS era controller I can remember offhand, please add/suggest more)

[various head mounted displays which included head tracking - seemed to be supported in mid 90's games like Terminal Velocity, Rise of The Triad. Though it's not a complete controller, it added a control axis not supported in normal games and i think it only worked with the HMD/not accessible normally]

---Win9x

P5 Glove (a 6dof controller including individual finger position recognition, the only game offhand i remember with specific support was Hitman 2 - as it was included with the P5 Glove I bought, though I never tried the game with it actually) around the late 90's or 2000 or so.

----XP

amBX - though not a controller, I include it because it's not graphics and not sound and was an attempt to raise immersion again. Originally lights that lit up behind the screen another setup used small fans to simulate gusts of wind at certain strategic times like during a large blast in the game.

3rd Space Force Gaming Vest - an air compressor rapidly fills bladders in a vest you wear to provide physical hit feedback, didn't seem to have much support outside Half Life 2

Novint Falcon - a robotic arm providing 6dof control and 6dof force feedback, most prominently supported in Half Life 2 that I know of

Razer Hydra - more modern and obviously known by people here since I see other threads on it


Can you comment on other things you'd seen or that I should do some searches on? I'm not really sure what else is out there.