virtual hand jive

Great minds think alike (NB I do not count myself in this category.)
Last night I had a chance to visit the shop of a CNC service tech,
and he told me about seeing machines with a handwheel pendant and an
X vs Y selector switch. By this time he was tiring of my questions so
I wasn't able to get many details, but recent "hand jive" posts seem
to run along these lines. I think such a system would satisfy my
hunger for wheels and solve the safety and mechanical problems
associated with real wheels. Sounds like all the fun would be
interfacing the virtual wheel with the jog system.