4 ms·

Microsoft never really left the dream of creating Bob behind. If you look at their Virtual Reality Portal it is basically a modern version of Bob where you star

Microsoft never really left the dream of creating Bob behind. If you look at their Virtual Reality Portal it is basically a modern version of Bob where you start in a livingroom and need to go into into other rooms to perform certain task. To start apps you eg. need to pick them from a book shelf. Essential the same a Bob. A few images for reference. Notice that you start MS Paint same way in the VR portal and Bob. VR Portal: https://onewindows.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/windows-mixed-reality.jpg https://onewindows.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/windows-mix... Bob: https://static1.howtogeekimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/microsoft-bob-2.png https://static1.howtogeekimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/upl...

MadnessASAP 2y ago
And Jesus wept! https://youtu.be/z4FGzE4endQ https://youtu.be/z4FGzE4endQ
- internet_points 2y ago
  That video is 100% accurate of the feeling of VR in the 90's, both of the behaviour of the believers, the experience itself, and the reactions from the onlookers :)
causality0 2y ago
I remember once buying a graphics card that included one of these virtual environments where files were on shelves, etc. Wish I could remember its name.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- alt227 2y ago
  Was it Packard Bell Navigator? https://winworldpc.com/product/packard-bell-navigator/39 https://winworldpc.com/product/packard-bell-navigator/39
  - causality0 2y ago
    Nah. This was much later and in full 3D.
- datavirtue 2y ago
  Magellan was pretty cool. I think it shipped on Magnavox PCs in the 386 era.
xerox13ster 2y ago
FWIW I actually really enjoyed that VR Home concept, far more than any of the current ones. At the time that I had the headset that supported that and still ran windows I was enamored with the space and spent a lot of time in the loft space, the one at the top of the skyscraper. I did as much of my computing in that space as possible, pulling up multiple desktop windows and floating applications and pinning them places. On one wall I had the Zune software with my whole music library, and my music played from that place, so I imported 3d models of speakers (I managed to actually find an end user use case for that default Windows user folder and I still as an admin and dev wonder why it's a default) and stuck them next to the app and they persisted. I'd drag discord around with me and I could even access the screen of my phone by bringing up Your Phone. I found it really kind of nice to use, and I wish the space had been more capable. Able to take more object formats, able to handle more vertices, I wish I had been able to boot directly to the virtual environment and eschew the step of switching between desktop and virtual mode. It also visually paused basically every app and desktop you didn't specifically keep active, except for Zune--that would go into Mixview and look cool as hell on the wall. I miss it, and I'm sad they killed it and I'm not aware of an experience like it for linux on an openish device atm.
alt227 2y ago
Its funny that as soon as microsoft need to make an alterate UI for computers they always reach for the home as an analogy. Are they really that short of creativity that rooms full of stuff is all they can imagine computers as?!
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  If you look at their Metro UI that was very innovative, and looked a lot like "real stuff" less than the equivalent iPhone/Android UIs at the time, from memory.
  - alt227 2y ago
    I disagree. Metro UI was ugly, space wasting, and a blight on UI design. I even disliked it on mobile which it was arguably designed for.
    - robertlagrant 2y ago
      You think it looked more like "real stuff" than the contemporary iOS and Android designs?
    - tgv 2y ago
      I actually liked it on mobile. Not fully: it was clunky and almost anti-aesthetic, but it worked, was easy to navigate (where implemented properly; I remember a date calc function that would show the years as a pop-up...) and was a fresh break from the trends at the time. (Well, I'd better come out of the closet now: Yes, I had a Microsoft mobile phone. But I was not the only one!)
    - datavirtue 2y ago
      Compared to random icons sprinkled across three or four screens? Metro was clean, fast and easily customized, the way a phone should be. The current Android/iPhone UIs are pure slop in comparison.
      - 2y ago

MadnessASAP 2y ago

And Jesus wept! https://youtu.be/z4FGzE4endQ https://youtu.be/z4FGzE4endQ

internet_points 2y ago
That video is 100% accurate of the feeling of VR in the 90's, both of the behaviour of the believers, the experience itself, and the reactions from the onlookers :)

causality0 2y ago

I remember once buying a graphics card that included one of these virtual environments where files were on shelves, etc. Wish I could remember its name.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
alt227 2y ago
Was it Packard Bell Navigator? https://winworldpc.com/product/packard-bell-navigator/39 https://winworldpc.com/product/packard-bell-navigator/39
- causality0 2y ago
  Nah. This was much later and in full 3D.
datavirtue 2y ago
Magellan was pretty cool. I think it shipped on Magnavox PCs in the 386 era.

xerox13ster 2y ago

FWIW I actually really enjoyed that VR Home concept, far more than any of the current ones. At the time that I had the headset that supported that and still ran windows I was enamored with the space and spent a lot of time in the loft space, the one at the top of the skyscraper. I did as much of my computing in that space as possible, pulling up multiple desktop windows and floating applications and pinning them places. On one wall I had the Zune software with my whole music library, and my music played from that place, so I imported 3d models of speakers (I managed to actually find an end user use case for that default Windows user folder and I still as an admin and dev wonder why it's a default) and stuck them next to the app and they persisted. I'd drag discord around with me and I could even access the screen of my phone by bringing up Your Phone. I found it really kind of nice to use, and I wish the space had been more capable. Able to take more object formats, able to handle more vertices, I wish I had been able to boot directly to the virtual environment and eschew the step of switching between desktop and virtual mode. It also visually paused basically every app and desktop you didn't specifically keep active, except for Zune--that would go into Mixview and look cool as hell on the wall. I miss it, and I'm sad they killed it and I'm not aware of an experience like it for linux on an openish device atm.

alt227 2y ago

Its funny that as soon as microsoft need to make an alterate UI for computers they always reach for the home as an analogy. Are they really that short of creativity that rooms full of stuff is all they can imagine computers as?!

robertlagrant 2y ago
If you look at their Metro UI that was very innovative, and looked a lot like "real stuff" less than the equivalent iPhone/Android UIs at the time, from memory.
- alt227 2y ago
  I disagree. Metro UI was ugly, space wasting, and a blight on UI design. I even disliked it on mobile which it was arguably designed for.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    You think it looked more like "real stuff" than the contemporary iOS and Android designs?
  - tgv 2y ago
    I actually liked it on mobile. Not fully: it was clunky and almost anti-aesthetic, but it worked, was easy to navigate (where implemented properly; I remember a date calc function that would show the years as a pop-up...) and was a fresh break from the trends at the time. (Well, I'd better come out of the closet now: Yes, I had a Microsoft mobile phone. But I was not the only one!)
  - datavirtue 2y ago
    Compared to random icons sprinkled across three or four screens? Metro was clean, fast and easily customized, the way a phone should be. The current Android/iPhone UIs are pure slop in comparison.
    - 2y ago