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Sphere XP Makes GUI 3D
Cypherus writes "I came across a link for a 3d desktop environment. "The SphereXP is a 3D desktop replacement for Microsoft Windows XP. Taking the known concept of three-dimensional desktops to its own level. It offers a new way to organize objects on the desktop such a icons and applications. Check the videos and screenshots to get the idea.""
I can imagine using this and always turning my monitor or my head so I can see the ones that aren't exactly lined up straight. Sorta like an older laptop LCD that loses brilliance when the angle's off. Since the desktop's concave, I'd also expect my windows to "slide" around toward the middle.
Of course, it might just be a matter of adjustment.
..two posts and it's slasdotted. Here is the Google Cache.
It was over before it even started.
/ sphere
Google cache of the front page, for what its worth - http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:www.hamar.sk
I used it last week for a day and was quite impressed. It isn't perfect, some major bugs, some missing features and a slow memory leak that requires you to stop and start it every hour or so. But very usable.
What I thought was most cool about it was that it is very close to something I have been saying I wanted for a long time, except that I want to rotate the 'world' around me using a foot controller. In any case Sphere might just be pointing the way to a new GUI paradigm we can use for real work, something other than the 'desktop'.
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Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
I'm a subscriber, and the videos were already non-responsive before this story even went from red to green...
There used to be one: The SpaceORB 360. Sadly, it's not made any longer. SpaceTec later folded and had its assets acquired by LabTec, who still manufacture high-end 3D input devices, mostly targeted at the CAD market.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
I've found Apple's Exposé works wonders for the tried and true Desktop metaphor.
Throughout my workday, I've got dozens of PSDs open in Photoshop, twice that many documents open in BBEdit, plus other essentials like Safari, Firefox, Explorer, VirtualPC, Suitcase iChat, iCal, iTunes and Mail.
Exposé helps me find exactly what I'm looking for. Fast.
It's truly one of the few things I never knew I always wanted once I started putting it to use.
Oh and dont forget the UNIX system in Jurrasic Park either.
You can use the mouse wheel to move windows closer/further, or to move the camera position in and out. It is in fact 3d.
My server
Why not investigate some of the alternatives while the site is ./ed.
http://desk3d.sourceforge.net/
Sun's attempt
http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/A.Steed/3ddesktop/
If you're a fan of women, add me to your friends list.
Rooms3d is a very immense desktop environment that views each "room" as a folder, with clickable objects as the items in the folder.
For example, a cool-looking dungeon would be the Control Panel, and wooden crates would be display, hardware configuration, etc. Like I said it's very immense and thourough but extremely cool.
http://www.hamar.sk/sphere/
Overview: The SphereXP is a 3D desktop replacement for Microsoft Windows XP. Taking the known concept of three-dimensional desktops to its own level. It offers a new way to organize objects on the desktop such a icons and applications. Check the videos and screenshots to get the idea.
The project was under "heavy" construction, but now it is open for testing. Everybody is free to try it out. Every response (sphere@hamar.sk) is appreciated.
Please keep in mind that project is more of a vision. Due to the limitations of Windows I'm not able to do everything as I would like to. I know it is still not very usable, but I'll try to make it work as I can. I hope when there's time for it, this theory will have a satisfying implementation.
http://www.hamar.sk/sphere/info.htm
PROJECT INFO
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE COMMAND LINE....
The interaction human-computer has gone a long way since the invention of personal computers. In the beginning there was only a simple command-line interface (CLI), which was not a very intuitive interface. The only widely used device that you could use to interact with the computer was the keyboard. People needed a lot of skills to operate computers. New ways have been opened with the evolution of hardware and software. Inventions such as mouse or graphical user interface (GUI) changed the way we interact with the computer and allowed massive spread of computers. Working with the computer got easier, faster and more effective. The two-dimensional graphical user system is now established as the preferred interface for most users. It can be found in any of the major operating systems like Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and the X Window System. There has been made only a little progress since its invention. Declining hardware prices and increasing hardware capabilities allow us to make the next step and make interfaces more intuitive and more effective.
A core part in creating any new environment is to provide a metaphor for intergrating visual elements into a recognizable and copmprehensive framework. The name of the application is "The Sphere". This name encapsulates the main idea behind the project. I'm not trying to simulate reality. The main inspiration comes from the way we recognize reality. My design is based on the human perception of the world.
THE CONCEPT
The Sphere is theory of an 3D workspace. The SphereXP is an example of the theory. The environment is user-centered. It is represented by a sphere. The user is exactly in the middle of it. All objects are situated around the user. He can easily turn around and manipulate with the objects. All the objects that users are used to having on their regular desktop are now integrated in a three-dimensional environment. . There are icons and applications. They can be move around according to some rules. You can bring them closer to the view port or send them back.
THE APP
Too much freedom of movement may cause disorientation. Therefore I chose to apply strict rules for moving in the environment. The user cannot go outside the designated area - the sphere. I call this type of navigation spherical. The view port is always facing apart from the sphere center. Once the user sets the distance from the center, the view port can be only rotated around it. This makes the navigation easier and prevents the user to get to an angle where he cannot see anything. A simple tool is used to ensure effective navigation and to prevent the user to get lost. It is a minimized version of the sphere situated in the right bottom corner. It provides an overview of where the view port is pointing and where all the objects are.
Limited control of the layout
The only thing that the user is allowed to change is the background image. This ensures that this environment will have the same functionality and layout on every com
The site is pretty thoroughly slashdotted. I grabbed it a few days ago, so... mirror. You'll want one of the sphere zips and the cgsl library.
My server
Here's the google link: http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:s33DucbWp6wJ: www.hamar.sk/sphere/+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
That was an actual program. 3D File System Navigator.
marble mouse image
Although it's probably not needed anymore, there's a mirror of the software, movies and shots at PlanetMirror. Available via HTTP or FTP. They also have the .NET Framework available.
Cheap: no. Easy to use: fairly. 3D: oh yeah.
The phantom is the darling device of many haptics researchers right now. It is pretty much exactly what you'd expect a 3D mouse to be. It's price pretty much limits its market to researchers and serious artists at the moment. I've had the chance to play with it and I can tell you that it's a fun little toy. No one has built a desktop for it yet though.
Trackballs are two-axis only. No yaw. So, therefore, there would be no functional difference between a trackball and a mouse.
Labtec still makes the Space Orb, which is a three-azix device. Logitech also has a division that does three- and six-axis input devices for CAD.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
Can be found here: http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/index.php?showtopic =5032
It's called Iex v0.2
3d interfaces will be harder to use than traditional 2d interfaces. Its only the coolness factor, for the most part.
To look for an object, you will have the difficulty increasing exponentially in the third dimension.
Its an extension of Fitts Law - effectively, people are more likely to choose a stable 3d configuration and use it as a 2d interface.
Although, I guess that would entitle you to theoretically call it a 2.5d interface.
Much like anything else I've seen Microsoft make / do, this is NOT their original idea. I saw this feature demoed on a Linux machine at Comdex last winter.
Here's a link to a story about the linux feature.
Ah! Can't post!: "Database maintenance is currently taking place. Some items such as comment posting and moderation are currently unavailable."
Oh well, I'll keep trying.
"And the monkey flips the switch."
The power of Christ compiles you.
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Apple's present use of 3D and 2D scaling seems to indicate they have the code written to do some cool 3D stuff, but they have to use it sparingly because all graphics rendering is alaways resource-intensive.
Truth be told, we do have a lot of 3D killer-apps.. first person shooters, and 3D medical images. The thing is, you end up there with applications who like to be modal in controling the screen in part because they don't really want you running another high-graphics app at the same time. An FPS-in-a-window seems to be too much to ask sometimes...
I know this was supposed to be a joke, but come on, M-Theory (and subsequently superstring theory) is 9+2 dimensions.
Oh, goodie, another "reinterpretation" of the UI involving '3-D'. This has been done before and this doesn't look any better than earlier efforts. Tell me why this is supposed to be revolutionary/fresh/insert meaningless buzzword here?
I think you got the clockwise/anticlockwise backwards as many have pointed out.
But more importantly, the statement:
It takes students an entire semester to get comfortable modeling in 3d and thinking in a three-dimensional space. Some don't even get it after the semester is up.
is ridiculous. We live in a 3D world, and our minds and phyche are wired for three dimensions both through life experience and also some through evolution.
-ashot
I got a chance to look at this program about a week ago when a friend installed it on my gaming PC I leave at his house.
To say the least the program has a long way to go before it can become a useful product. I admit that it has potential, but it has some issues.
Firstly, the images it produces are really choppy. It doesn't recreate the graphics of the apps in the background with enough detail. And I am not just talking about legability either. I had calc running in the background and the bottom of the application was cut off.
The next thing was the interaction in switching the applications from being into the foreground to the background. You have to click on the top of the app, just a pixel above the title bar. It, needless to say, took awhile to get the hang of it.
Another problem I had was applications that would disappear within the middle. You can zoom in and out of the 3d space, and its easy to lose an application that is in the middle. I managed to place a program in the middle of the desktop so that when I spun around you still could not find the application. One would assume I would eventually find it 180degrees around, but I didn't until I zoomed all the way out.
The last thing would have to be the fact that its not a true 3d environment. The desktop does not wrap around to the other side. When navigating all the way around, its not possible to come to a full loop.
Don't get me wrong though. I think this is quite an achievement for who designed it. And I think it deserves all the merit it can get.
"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." -Jules de Gautier
Shame is that you need IRIX 5.3 or below to run. All my systems are 6.5+
However there is fsv - 3D file system visualiser available for Unix/Linux.
Like this one?
The calender looks like a calender and is where you would expect it. The Inbox looks like an inbox and is on your table. Your diary is on the table and open to today. You software manuals are on the shelf and look like books, when you move closer you can read the spines.No training required.When you move an cursor (think focus of gaze) over what you want to do icons appear near the object with a list of tasks it can do appear. Move your icon/point of interest away and they go away. Walk down the hall and there is Fred's office , there's Freds stuff. Fred might let you borrow his stuff or he might not. Walk out of that door over there and anything and everything changes and your in the middle of a game. It's ALL transparent and like the real world. (Ok, the game bit is an extension but think local paintball)
Isn't this what Microsoft tried to do with Bob? I may be thinking of another UI that tried to do the same thing, but I distinctly remember at one point using a UI similar to what you describe... and I think it was Bob.
If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.
It's a cool project, but the poor guy's server is getting killed. :(
Here is a mirror to the movies & screenshots.