The present invention is a system that allows a user to physically rotate a three-dimensional volumetric display enclosure with a corresponding rotation of the display contents. The rotation of the enclosure is sampled with an encoder and the display is virtually rotated by a computer maintaining the scene by an amount corresponding to the physical rotation before being rendered. This allows the user to remain in one position while viewing different parts of the displayed scene corresponding to different viewpoints. The display contents can be rotated in direct correspondence with the display enclosure or with a gain (positive or negative) that accelerates the rotation of the contents with respect to the physical rotation of the enclosure. Any display widgets in the scene, such as a virtual keyboard, can be maintained stationary with respect to the user while scene contents rotate by applying a negative rotational gain to the widgets. The rotation can also be controlled by a time value such that the rotation continues until a specified time is reached or expires.