There's a whole lot of virtual knob UX literature derived from synthesizer/effect plugin UIs. The main question I see with this is 'how does the system know what sort of knob you want to turn?' or conversely 'how does the user know what knobs are available without a knobby user interface?'

My hunch is that you'll find most non-technical users don't like highly skeuomorphic interfaces and prefer dropdown pickers and linear controls like faders, plus not too many of them. People who do like them like them a lot, but past a certain point we buy hardware with actual knobs or other physical controls.