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3D Sphere Interface for XP
Brian Brian writes "I found this super cool 3D, inside a sphere, desktop interface. The videos really demonstrate it. I would love this built into OS X but it is just for Windows right now. And if nothing else, the paradigm is the coolest way to handle multiple screens." Here are a
collection of screenshots & videos. I'm skeptical that it wouldn't be very practical, but it sure looks fun.
XP is slow enough as it is...and now we want to do all kinds of useless fancy junk with this kind of window manager?
It looks like someone saw Minority Report one time too many.
// Agent Green (Ian / IU7 / KB1JQO)
// IEEE 802.3: All 10base Are Belong To Us
I've tried SphereXP, even implemented my own 3D desktop before that.
The problem with it is that it's not about function, but flair.
In short, try something else, preferably something which doesn't include the ability to rotate windos around their own axels.
http://li3-33.members.linode.com/~sunny/slashdot-m irror/www.hamar.sk/sphere/screenshots.htm
if the bandwidth gets out of hand, I'll shut this mirror down
Sunny Dubey
Saw this a lonnnnng time ago. Installed XP just to try it. What I found :
-Extreme resource hog
-The designer knows nothing about UI design (so many different actions, even if you can customize the controls. Needs to be simplified)
-It's ugly.
-You can't even use the windows while they're in "3D " mode
Just a poor windows developer trying to make some competition to Looking Glass. It's too bad, because it'll never work, unless MS does it and integrates it into their OS. (It would probably be really buggy coming from them though. I hate to say it, but I'm looking to Sun for the first 3D desktop)
Clippy the office paper clip... NOW IN 3D!
http://www.sandstorming.com
... suck spheres.
*cough*
Don't blame me -- I voted for Roslin.
It's nice eye candy but I really don't see how this will make a user more efficient as it seems to be distracting (just more ammo for those with ADD). I do find Windowmaker's multiple workspaces to be a great boon though but it's not XP.
Trolling is a art,
and the screen shots page won't last much longer either But here's the Mirrot Dot Link in case you missed it
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Tried it last night, actually, while I was playing with my desktop.
It's a fun theory tool and shows you exactly what SUN was going for in Project Looking Glass. However, when it comes down to it, it has no current practical application. Windows are stored in the sphere, not used in it, which means that everytime you want to recover an open window, you need to go into sphere mode, look arounnd for the window, find it, and then bring it back to flat mode. It adds a whole extra step to the process, and definitely a lot more time.
I think the best improvement may be interaction with windows inside the sphere, but as the website proclaims, this project is still in Beta.
Best,
- Brandon
As slashbots we can only like fancy GUIs if they are for Macs.
Looking Glass
Just
This looks a lot like 3d desktop, but ontop of the desktop instead of the black background.
Do you even bother with dupe checks anymore?
Stuff.
Sorry, I only grab one page deap on stories but you can see the thumbnails:
e enshots.htm
e x.html
http://slashdot.fluky.org/www.hamar.sk/sphere/scr
Also their main page:
http://slashdot.fluky.org/www.hamar.sk/sphere/ind
Hehe, windowsXP with an interface that chugs it down, slows down the user, and STILL has no decent file system?
;)
Sounds like someone beat MS to longhorn
...
I've used it a bit - It's really nice - Or rather promising! ;)
;)
;)
I didn't use SphereXP for very long, as it wasn't very mature when I used it, but I found Spaces, which was pretty good - It's not exactly the same, but they both make use of our spacial memory - With spaces I could have 30+ windows open and have no problems at all navigating them
The only problem is that they are "images" of the window, and hence does not update once they are out of focus.
Plus, none of them support multiple screens, as far as I can remember - I use a dual screen setup right now, but I would still *love* to have it
I got interested in it after viewing demonstrations of Sun's Looking Glass (I think it's called) - now they updated in real time, but that was "built in"... Plus it was linux
Any technology distinguishable from magic, is insufficiently advanced.
I can't see a 3D Desktop ever becoming the way we use computers while we're still using a 2D screen. The image is distorted so much that it becomes useless. Navigation in a 3D relm with a 2D input and display is cumbersome, and really ... the current desktop systems work pretty darn good. The modifications / enhancements that Apple have included in OS X are additionally helpful, though there are changes I would make.
... what am I missing?
The ability to put a window into the dock is pretty nice, though that section should be larger so the contents of the window are still recognizable, while shortcut icons are still small (16x16-ish).
To get more 'desktop space' we've tried bigger displays with higher resolution; multiple virtual desktops; multiple displays; parts of the desktop sliding in and out of view
What we really want is the ability to see everything that's going on at the same time without having to turn our head or move anything on the screen.
I think if there were a system like Expose with a central area for displaying the current window, we'd be there. That way you could have all your windows displayed miniturized and your primary window large in the center of the screen. You could still get information from the rest of your windows without having to switch to them or stop whatever it is you're working on.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
It's all Jurassic Park's fault.
"It's a UNIX system!" (followed by what was apparently some sort of VRML-based power management tool)
The GUI on XP loads fast - if you've ever wondered why it takes another minute for it to become useable, it's because it's still loading all the services and crud in the background - the difference with linux is that it loads the crud up front in the open. When it's ready to go, it's ready so to speak.
...that what drives innovation is new input and output devices. There is a limited set of software that can be made to add or enhance functionality of the existing input and outbput devices on a computer. For example, a plain old QWERTY keyboard can only do so much regardless of whether it connects with an AT, PS/2 or USB interface. You might be able to write software that will use the scroll lock LED as a network link/traffic indicator, but that's about it. I've also heard that there were some projects that utilized the numeric section of the KB in a chording mode so you could ostensible type with one hand and possibly get a little faster at it. But as you can see, a keyboard is a keyboard is a keyboard. The same goes for a mouse. There is only so much you can do with a mouse before you hit limitations no matter how unique your GUI is (Mac, Windows, *nix, it doesn't matter).
:)
So the only answer to continue to drive innovation is new input and output devices. This is where Microsoft has got it right. They see the need for this and are constantly developing newer and more unique interfaces. They have their biometric login device that allows you to log in just by touching something. And now they have this new 3D sphere interface. What they need is a corresponding physical input device to take the most advantage of this new UI. Since they are so keen on the tactile approach, they should probably make an input device that is more convenient to what most of the users of their products are accustomed to interacting with.
I would suggest that they build a unit that can be placed on the lap for convenient reach. It should have a firm cylindrical projection that is easy to grab (probably about 6.5 inches in length and about 2 inches thick to fit the majority of the users hands) and two spheres placed on either side of the control rod. The placement of the two spheres on either side should accomodate left or right handed users who with to interact with the 3D Sphere UI. Just to make the make the spheres more tactile, they should use a surface that is somewhat riled. Possibly the entir e device could even be heated to approximately 98.6F so that touching it would be a little more intuitive.
Following up on their force feedback technology from the mid 90s, they could add the same kind of technology to this input device. A little jerking to and fro to represent more 3D features in this new UI might be helpful for most users. There could also be an automatic sensor in the control rod that can detect when a user's skin is getting a little dry and a plume of self contained moisturizing cream could be oozed out of the tip of the control rod and directed down the sides to the users hand(s) for instant skin relief.
Just a simple premise to prove that innovation in UIs is purely driven by the input and output hardware.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o