The machine was originally created by its inventor Trin Tragula as a way to get back at his wife. She was always telling him to get a “sense of proportion,” so he showed her the Vortex, and was horrified to learn he had destroyed her mind.

The Vortex is now used as a torture and (in effect) killing device on the planet Frogstar B. The prospective victim of the TPV is placed within a small chamber wherein is displayed a model of the entire universe - together with a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot bearing the legend “you are here.” The sense of perspective thereby conveyed destroys the victim’s mind; it was stated that the TPV is the only known means of crushing a man’s soul.