Today at the Virtual Worlds Conference in New York, 3Dconnexion announced that in mid-April its line of 3D mice--including the SpaceNavigator--will be compatible with Second Life. For users, this means better control and coordination with 3D objects within the 3D virtual world of Second Life.

For the most part, the SpaceNavigator has been used by designers in such programs as PhotoShop, AutoCAD, and so on. But I've used it in Google Earth and loved the ease of movement it gives. So this partnership seems like a natural.

Moving your avatar around will become much more fluid and seamless; you merely push, pull, and press on the device instead of fooling around with keyboard commands. For those who are into building objects within Second Life, you'll be able to use the SpaceNavigator there too: "Users can pan, zoom and rotate 3D objects to view designs from multiple angles."

Prices for the devices range from $59 for the SpaceNavigator Personal Edition up to $399 for the SpacePilot. Check them out at the company's site.