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That's like looking a black and white movie on a color screen. Why are they still using a 2D window manager when we could take advantage of the full 3D spacial

by zimbatm 10y ago

That's like looking a black and white movie on a color screen. Why are they still using a 2D window manager when we could take advantage of the full 3D spacial navigation?

blkhawk 10y ago
uh, because a GUI based on a flat "desktop" metaphor with overlapping square interfaces works so damn well. And the places where the metaphor differs from a RL desktop its because its more convenient that way - say like how documents (windows) have no thickness or how its easier to look straight ahead with a 90° to a surface instead of downwards onto a desktop at an angle? this concept actually takes advantage of 3d spacial navigation by basically giving you an functionally unlimited of desktop area.
- zimbatm 10y ago
  It's not an unlimited desktop if they are projected inside of a 3D sphere. Granted text is best displayed on 2D tiles that you can look straight ahead, but I was talking about navigation. There is only one text that you can read at the time, the rest doesn't have to be arranged in a sphere. It could be laid out around the room or even in bigger fields.
dharma1 10y ago
Most legacy apps are 2D surfaces. Or do you mean why the 2D windows are not composited more in the 3D space (they all seem to have the same Z depth)? Well, you would need a 3D input devices as precise as the veritable mouse, which they are using in this demo.
- zimbatm 10y ago
  Fair enough. From the home page it looked like each tile might be holding multiple apps. It's a good first implementation but hopefully in the future apps will be 3D-compatible.
empath75 10y ago
What would a VR file manager look like to you, for example?
- zimbatm 10y ago
  I know people who love to organize their icons on the desktop, and lay everything out there. It helps them find things back more easily. I think it's related to the method of loci where spacial categorization is a way to recall things more efficiently. It would be interesting to try to tap into that. Maybe create different places with a way to navigate between them and place objects in them. It doesn't have to be exactly like reality, it would be too constraining otherwise. There could be shortcuts and different zoom levels to information. Maybe there would be a static foreground like a desk that provides a work space and and reference anchor for the mind. And then the background could move independently, be a galaxy of information the user can sift trough using various tools. One interesting development will be how symbolism will be developed. We need visual cues so we can recognize different kind of objects. This will help us navigate around and also know how to interact with each item. I don't think everything should be text, it's not be very practical in 3D. But to answer your question, I don't think a file manager will exist (in the traditional sense). Right now each application takes over the whole environment but at some point there will be a second layer, a common environment that holds all the objects. This will be the normal OS-provided environment. The file manager will be replaced with tools that help you categorize and search the objects but it will be different because they would just interact with the universe like any other tool. PS: Or maybe I'm thinking too much of Smalltalk

by zimbatm 10y ago

That's like looking a black and white movie on a color screen. Why are they still using a 2D window manager when we could take advantage of the full 3D spacial navigation?

blkhawk 10y ago

uh, because a GUI based on a flat "desktop" metaphor with overlapping square interfaces works so damn well. And the places where the metaphor differs from a RL desktop its because its more convenient that way - say like how documents (windows) have no thickness or how its easier to look straight ahead with a 90° to a surface instead of downwards onto a desktop at an angle? this concept actually takes advantage of 3d spacial navigation by basically giving you an functionally unlimited of desktop area.

zimbatm 10y ago
It's not an unlimited desktop if they are projected inside of a 3D sphere. Granted text is best displayed on 2D tiles that you can look straight ahead, but I was talking about navigation. There is only one text that you can read at the time, the rest doesn't have to be arranged in a sphere. It could be laid out around the room or even in bigger fields.

dharma1 10y ago

Most legacy apps are 2D surfaces. Or do you mean why the 2D windows are not composited more in the 3D space (they all seem to have the same Z depth)? Well, you would need a 3D input devices as precise as the veritable mouse, which they are using in this demo.

zimbatm 10y ago
Fair enough. From the home page it looked like each tile might be holding multiple apps. It's a good first implementation but hopefully in the future apps will be 3D-compatible.

empath75 10y ago

What would a VR file manager look like to you, for example?

zimbatm 10y ago
I know people who love to organize their icons on the desktop, and lay everything out there. It helps them find things back more easily. I think it's related to the method of loci where spacial categorization is a way to recall things more efficiently. It would be interesting to try to tap into that. Maybe create different places with a way to navigate between them and place objects in them. It doesn't have to be exactly like reality, it would be too constraining otherwise. There could be shortcuts and different zoom levels to information. Maybe there would be a static foreground like a desk that provides a work space and and reference anchor for the mind. And then the background could move independently, be a galaxy of information the user can sift trough using various tools. One interesting development will be how symbolism will be developed. We need visual cues so we can recognize different kind of objects. This will help us navigate around and also know how to interact with each item. I don't think everything should be text, it's not be very practical in 3D. But to answer your question, I don't think a file manager will exist (in the traditional sense). Right now each application takes over the whole environment but at some point there will be a second layer, a common environment that holds all the objects. This will be the normal OS-provided environment. The file manager will be replaced with tools that help you categorize and search the objects but it will be different because they would just interact with the universe like any other tool. PS: Or maybe I'm thinking too much of Smalltalk