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Sphere XP Makes GUI 3D

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'll-believe-it-when-i-can-use-it dept.

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.""

44 of 386 comments (clear)

  1. /. effect by Professor+Cool+Linux · · Score: 3, Funny

    IMAGES & VIDEOS!!!
    Let the melting begin...

    1. Re:/. effect by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm a subscriber, and the videos were already non-responsive before this story even went from red to green...

  2. Old != Bad by sinclair44 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do people actually think these are EASIER to use than the traditional 2D/command line interfaces? Or is it just coolness?

    --
    Omnes stulti sunt.
    1. Re:Old != Bad by xactoguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It would be easier in the fact that effectively it gives you more desktop space, and without the complete separation of virtual desktops. Say you have a document, a calculator, and an IDE open. You want to use the calculator with both the IDE and the document. With a virtual desktop you couldn't do that, and with a traditional desktop you'd constantly have to be switching, because most likely you'd have the IDE and document fullscreened. With this, you merely put the calculator between the IDE and document, and rotate your view accordingly.

      --


      And so we go, on with our lives
      We know the truth, but prefer lies
      Lies are simple, simple is bliss
    2. Re:Old != Bad by tweder · · Score: 4, Informative

      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.

    3. Re:Old != Bad by metlin · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.

    4. Re:Old != Bad by AndroidCat · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Play a game like Black & White for a few hours straight until you don't think about your mouse/wheel motions to move around in the 3D world. Then switch right back to the desktop and see if you don't try to grab the screen to rotate your view or zoom in/out. It's a very strange sensation.

      I'm not sure if a desktop that worked that way would be any easier, but to really use it, you'd have to change over all your normal reflexes. (There is no "try".) That would be a hard sell--which is where the coolness comes in, I suspect. :)

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    5. Re:Old != Bad by rishistar · · Score: 3, Funny
      It really depends on what kind of work you do. If you have dozens of widows with

      If I had dozens of widows I'd be a dead bigamist.

      --
      Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  3. Dade Murphy... by Seoulstriker · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally, the technology of the 1995 movie "Hackers" meets the present. ;-)

    --
    I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
    1. Re:Dade Murphy... by ActiveSX · · Score: 3, Informative

      That was an actual program. 3D File System Navigator.

  4. 3D input devices by Matt+Moyer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I really don't think the 3d desktop will be feasable until we have some form of useful, cheap, and easy to use 3D input device. Anyone work with this sort of thing?

    1. Re:3D input devices by ewhac · · Score: 4, Informative

      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
    2. Re:3D input devices by Arkus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Check out this glove from Essential Reality. It reminds me of the powerglove from the original nintendo, but includes source code for Linux and M$ Windows. I've been considering picking up one just to try my hand at some 3D desktop interface programming.

      --
      -- Just my $0.02 worth...
    3. Re:3D input devices by adamfranco · · Score: 4, Insightful

      while a GUI allows you to do common things faster.

      I think that this is where we are having a slight misunderstanding. The 2D GUI isn't faster than the CLI, but has other added benefits (easier to see relationships, ability to see multiple outputs on the screen at the same time, viewing of fonts/markup, etc) that outweigh the added slowness. For a speed comparison, several common tasks are below:

      Copying a file:

      CLI:
      1.type $ cp /home/adam/mypaper.txt /somewhere/else/

      GUI:
      1. Go to "MyComputer" or "Finder"
      2. [Double]Click on "Documents"
      3. Go to "MyComputer" or "Finder" again or move hands to keyboard for CTRL+N to get a second window
      4-6. click several times to browse the second window to /somewhere/else
      7. Drag the icon for mypaper.txt from the first to the second window.

      Playing resizing an image:

      CLI:
      1. type $ mogrify -resize 640x480 cockatoo.jpg

      GUI:
      1-3. Open a filebrowser and browse to the image
      OR
      1. Go to "StartMenu" --> applications --> Adobe --> Photoshop
      2. Click File --> Open
      3+. Browse to cockatoo.jpg, click ok
      4. Click Image --> Image Size
      5. enter your resize values in the fields, click ok
      6. Click File --> Save
      OR
      6. Click CTRL+S

      In these and most other situations, the CLI will be much much faster, however, the added value of the 2D GUI is huge. For instance, being able to see what your image looks like when its resized is a great added value. Likewise, being easily able to see the hierarchy tree when using the filebrowser means that you don't have to keep as much in your head. How this applies to the 3D desktop is that the 3D interface does not have to maintain or reduce the overhead of interaction over the 2D environment, but it must add enough value to the environment to make that extra interaction overhead worth the trouble.

      I have yet to try a true 3D desktop and will wait until I have to make judgements on whether the interface overhead is worth the benefit.

      --
      "When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers
  5. Google cache.. by Pranjal · · Score: 4, Informative

    ..two posts and it's slasdotted. Here is the Google Cache.

  6. OT: What I want from a 3D GUI project by aliens · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What I have yet to see on any sort of 3D gui, is a thought out plan. (If anyone has please link)

    I would like to see some thought like a list of limitations that the 2D GUI paradigm currently has and how a 3D GUI could address these issues while not producing a huge long list of its own problems.

    Until then, this looks cool, but is in no way a step forward, back, up or down. It's just kinda there.

    --
    -- taking over the world, we are.
    1. Re:OT: What I want from a 3D GUI project by MBCook · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I know what you mean. I've seen a few 3D desktops before (I've seen this one before, plus Sun's 3D demo which I liked) and they all seem to be pushing the 2D paradigm into 3D. No one is really "using" 3D, they all seem to be making a 2D desktop where the 2D windows can be put "in the background" or something like that for the use of 3D. Nothing really "innovative".

      Like I said, I really like the way Sun did their 3D desktop demo, but it's still not really a 3D desktop, just a 2D desktop with a 3rd deminsion.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    2. Re:OT: What I want from a 3D GUI project by LostCluster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Any 3D GUI is going to have to account for 2D programs running around its environment, just like Windows had to account for DOS programs and Linux GUIs always let you have command line windows.

      Somebody's got to get a 3D desktop environment stable before anybody bothers developing on top of that platform.

    3. Re:OT: What I want from a 3D GUI project by zytheran · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Problems with 2D paradigm.
      1 The real world isn't 2D. People have to learn that icons mean things and all about clicking and double clicking to make it do stuff (i.e. run) So there is this whole training thing. Those who have helped show the older generation how to use PC's know all about this.

      2 2D is really limited space. You have a 15"->20" display that has borders.Unless windows go wrong you can't put things off screen. The real world is not like this, I can turn around and put stuff on the table behind me, or on the floor, or on the shelf. I don't have a tiny little workspace, no-one does. Yes , Linux, Irix can have multiple "windows", but the whole thing doesn't scroll, you just choose another rectangle to look at. Although we accept this , take some time to look around your cube, office or kitchen. The real world is not so constrained, why should the virtual one???
      3 In the real world I like piling things so I put related things together. This requires 3D. Try this on 2D and you either get a mess or require "folders" to put things in. These folders are just more 2D..
      4 Relationships between objects. Our whole brain has evolved to handle 3D relationships. e.g. the files are on the table, the calender is near the phone, the phone is near the window. Our brains thrive on this and it works really well because our brains are good at 3D mapping. Living in a 2D icon based world is mentally crippling. We have to label things with words to know what they are, we need folders and tree structures for directories. These might have seemed a good idea at the time but did anyone ever do some testing to see how effective these paradigms were? Anyone?? Of course we (and in particular younger people) take this all for granted but who says it is any good? Think outside the square people. Icons, folders, windows??? Come on!!

      What do people think about having a UI which is a window into a 3D world. It looks 3D because it really is. 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)

      Well, anyway, been there, done that, got funding, got business plans, no-one was really interested (including Microsoft). They all like little 2D screens and icons.No-one could clue out a 3D based UI. Search for Cyberterm in the archives and the VR print magazines from the early 90's. (Our 3D interface actually preceded Windows 3.1)
      After 10 years of taking it from a hobby to a company and then nowhere we have given up.
      (PS The company wasn't called Cyberterm, thats some dude in Florida who got the name before us)

  7. Not impressed by Lurgen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    3 Dimensional interfaces like these (especially Suns new project) are just annoying. They don't represent any signficant increase in productivity, they aren't going to make your system easier to use - they just look cool, and that's enough to grab attention.

    The downside of these interfaces is the ridiculously high processor and memory requirements. All that extra graphic manipulation comes at a price, and I for one don't see any reason to waste processor cycles. What I'd much rather see is somebody developing a faster, more lightweight UI that is a nice combination of OSX and Windows XP. One that chews up LESS memory (instead of more, like this), one that speeds things up.

    Then I'll be impressed.

    1. Re:Not impressed by epiphani · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I accually think that this is more a "Cargo before the boat" type thing. 3D interfaces would be great. If I could interact with them in a 3D manner.

      Take a look at the interfaces used in the matrix 2 and Minority Report for examples of what I mean by 3D interfaces.

      --
      .
    2. Re:Not impressed by Lurgen · · Score: 3, Interesting

      People who said that about Windows were obviously not paying attention. Being able to carry out multiple tasks in parallel, to have several applications available to facilitate workflow, that's dead simple to justify.

      Bear in mind that the windowed nature of the Windows GUI wasn't the big step forward - the multiple application, flexible workflow side of things is what truly mattered (working in windows had been around for ages, just look at the Mac, or even better GEOS on the C64!).

      Having a pretty 3D interface to do the same thing? I'm not convinced. Gimme something truly revolutionary.

    3. Re:Not impressed by Jack+Porter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The downside of these interfaces is the ridiculously high processor and memory requirements. All that extra graphic manipulation comes at a price, and I for one don't see any reason to waste processor cycles.

      Yeah, the 2D GUI will never take off - what a waste of CPU and memory! Remember when 2D graphics acceleration was a selling point of video cards? They relieved your CPU of the burden of the 2D GUI's bitblits and fills.

      These days many people already have a 3D accelerator capable of doing all the 3D number crunching required - "wasting CPU cycles" is a moot point.

    4. Re:Not impressed by Eil · · Score: 4, Interesting


      The downside of these interfaces is the ridiculously high processor and memory requirements. All that extra graphic manipulation comes at a price, and I for one don't see any reason to waste processor cycles.

      They also said that "glass teletypes" would be too bulky and difficult to read. They said that color graphics were a perfectly good waste of video RAM. And 2D graphics with a mouse would never catch on because pointing and clicking at rectangles all day long would get much too tedious.

      Of course the 3D desktop comes at a price. It's not practical these days anyway, but it might be in the future. That "might" is very much the key. Even if this is all smoke and mirrors (doubtful, but possible), it makes the company look good. It's "innovation." It might become the next trend.

      This Sphere XP is not in use right now because there are significant limiting factors. Computing resources, navigation, ease of use, etc. The whole purpose of research like this is to try to find new ways over those hurdles. If they just sat around all day shaking their heads and saying, "this is pointless, why don't we combine OS X and Windows XP instead?" they... well, they'd end up being you.

      What I'd much rather see is somebody developing a faster, more lightweight UI that is a nice combination of OSX and Windows XP. One that chews up LESS memory (instead of more, like this), one that speeds things up.

      Better get coding, because if what's currently out there doesn't suit your needs, it's highly unlikely that someone's going to rap on your chamber door and volunteer to sit down and start banging out customized software just for you.

    5. Re:Not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Spoken like a true newbie. GEOS didn't come along for the C64 until way late in its life cycle (long after Macs). Windows wasn't able to "carry out multiple tasks in parallel" (non-preemptive multitasking) until 1995, 10 years after the Amiga did it.

      You'll be so busy waiting for something "revolutionary" that you won't be paying attention when such evolutionary technologies as this roll right past you. It's not what it can do that you should be seeing, but what it will be capable of someday (the guy says it's research and a work in progress). GUIs have always been evolutionary - you said it yourself.

  8. I used it last week... by Jack+William+Bell · · Score: 5, Informative

    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'.

    --
    - -
    Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
  9. Superstring XP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next comes Superstring XP, which works in 26 dimensions.

    1. Re:Superstring XP by two_stripe · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know this was supposed to be a joke, but come on, M-Theory (and subsequently superstring theory) is 9+2 dimensions. Here i was trying to convince my housemate that slashdotters do have a life, and then he read this. You just set me back 3 years.

  10. Project Looking Glass by dominator2010 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What about Sun's Project Looking Glass that's on their Java Desktop System?

    Here's a link

  11. Hmm, 3D Desktop... by lightknight · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This (SphereXP) is almost painful to use. Not that it's a bad design (it's very interesting), but I've seen the videos from a while back (I'm working on something that competes along these lines, have to keep tabs...). Two things I would say to the coder: 1.) CSGL is no longer being developed. Switch to Tao (http://www.randyridge.com). 2.) Try and keep the amount of effort (moving around, switching tasks) to a minimum. Download the videos, you will see what I mean. Lots of bad clicking and scraping while moving around the sphere.

    The biggest problem I've run into (again, I'm working on something in the 3D Desktop arena), is that in windows, you cannot jack the Paint APIs (easily). So you can't just grab a window and throw it into OpenGL. Additionally, you can't modify the source (closed-source) to grab the windows...Which I am attempting to rectify with some assembly code, but it's still a pain.

    The nice thing about Tao? Cross-platform (somewhat). As for my program? It will be released after I finish the assembly.

    --
    I am John Hurt.
  12. Re:3D? by CTho9305 · · Score: 3, Informative

    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
  13. Re:Frustrating by CTho9305 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The focused window comes up and is displayed in the normal "2d" manner. You can't even interact with windows that aren't on the 2d plane beyond dragging them around, and their window contents don't update realtime.

    --
    My server
  14. Why not try some of the alternatives by women · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.
  15. Another 3d desktop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

  16. Mirror of program by CTho9305 · · Score: 3, Informative

    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
  17. 3d browsing comes and goes by dj245 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    These thing have come, and they go just as quick. I've seen 3d browsing being pimped at the internet browsing crowd, the hard disk space hogging investigating tools, and various other browsing tools. It always fades away because people hate it. 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. I know a couple students that will never really get it. They are pushing this on Joe Average?

    In 3d rendering enviroments and cad programs, a sharp and tough learning curve is anticipated and acceptable. But in web and file browsers it is not. File and web browsers must be intuitive. Ittuitiveness is a myth however, there is no human instinct that associates double-clicking with running a 'program'. It is merely congruent with expected behavior. Same with volume controls where increasing volume is anticlockwise. If I made a volume dial where increasing volume was clockwise, people would be righteously pissed because it clashed with expected behavior.

    And that, in a nutshell, is why it will fail.

    --
    Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
  18. Screenshots since main site is down by wo1verin3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    PC INpact Screenshots

  19. I Have a 3-D desktop at work and at home! by JoeCommodore · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...I wonder if the digital version has the same problem of all the piles of documents spilling to the floor now and again?

    --
    "Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
  20. Mirror Available by baximus · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

  21. We need a /. Torrent tracker by The+Rizz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As soon as I saw this on slashdot, I thought I'd quick take a look at it before it got swamped - I actually got all the images and videos downloaded before the site went down due to /. effect.

    I was thinking I could put a .torrent of it up for download, but realized that I didn't have any tracker to post it to if I did make one...

    Perhaps Shalsdot needs to look into providing a public tracker for backups of video/images/etc. from sites they link to.

    --The Rizz

    "The girl who swears no one has ever made love to her has a right to swear." --Sophia Loren

  22. This is useless to me. by ChaoticLimbs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't want new WAYS to use the existing functionality of my computer. I want new TOOLS, new things I can do that I could not do before, or things which were complex now made simple. I want my computer to understand spoken instructions in sentence form. I want to tell my computer " Find all of the image files in the computer where the majority color is orange". I want to tell my computer "Show me a list of all of the files on my computer which have been modified or accessed by a user process in the last 15 minutes." and get no system and log files as a result. I want my computer to actually know the purpose of each file its OS is built from. I want to ask it if anything is different between this bootup and last. WHY is the industry looking to add superfluous eyecandy to the same functionality?
    It's like being sold a 1930 Ford with a new, prettier body for 2004 but still having the old rattletrap engine.
    Those apps that need 3d will HAVE it (Quake) Find ways I can do things FASTER with less effort!!

  23. heh by krappie · · Score: 4, Funny

    some major bugs
    some missing features
    a slow memory leak that requires you to stop and start it every hour or so
    But very usable.

    BAHAHAHHAHAHAHhahahahhahahahhahahaha :D

  24. Not all its cracked up to be by NoWhere+Man · · Score: 4, Informative

    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
  25. Mirror of movies & screenshots by drunkenbatman · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's a cool project, but the poor guy's server is getting killed. :(

    Here is a mirror to the movies & screenshots.