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LiveCD Lets You Try Out Project Looking Glass
remember_beos writes "Sun created Project Looking Glass (LG3D) as a 'proof of concept' not long ago. It is an environment for Linux, like KDE or Gnome, but with some really great 3D functionality. More than just eye-candy, LG3D provides functional use of an extra spatial dimension on your desktop. Now there is a LiveCD for us all to try it out."
I have been licking the same screenshots on suns site for the last few months. Now I get to play with it! I cant wait to download it tonight!
Good Karma, Bad Karma, doesnt matter to me... I'm still going to say whats on my mind!
From what I understand of this project it is very cool. With that extra spatial dimmension you will take what is already a cluttered desktop and make it mess in 3D. Now my computer can look more like my apartnemt.
In all seriousness though this is really a neat concept. I use a lot of space for my video editing programs. They require a title program, an animator, a sound mixer, a couple of editors, etc. Now this will take my ordinary 15 inch screen and give it dimenssion which will make my life a lot more producitve and a lot oless facinating.
Be better in bed. Wikiafterdark!
Isn't it rough on the video card to have it 3D rendering at any point the the OS is loaded?
Isn't this what video cards or for? You might as well ask if it's rough on the CPU.
I think sun knows that it is nothing but marketing gimmick.
You may be missing out on the point that this opens up a completely new area of UI development.. UI developers don't have to be constrained to the standard 'Two dimensional box' we are accustomed to. A properly designed three dimensional UI could turn out to be more intuitive and productive if designed properly. For an example see the CD jukebox Sun includes with Looking Glass.
I want to install it on my computer.
Can I do that? I can't find any information about doing just that.
A LiveCD is good, because it shows people what a properly set-up environment can do, but why not let us set it up, ourselves?
Licensing issues perhaps? Whatever the reason, a note on the page would be nice.
Does anyone get the impression that there is some subtle but real competition going on between Sun and Apple? Apple seems to be moving in on the server/blade market, and Sun is attempting to do cool GUI tricks. I wouldn't mention this but Sun has made so much of Project Looking Glass that it's kind of hard to not wonder if one of their primary targets here is not Apple and the users who are using it as their preferred UNIX OS.
There is a big issue with cheaper systems in relation to video cards with 3d. At a school I once attended they had a bunch of really fast, but really cheap desktops. They all intergrate video cards. Once after playing counter-strike for about an hour artfacts would appear. This would be even scarier with your windowing system. I would predict most PC sold today would have this issue. There is a big problem with being "too hard" (aka not enough cooling) on the video of cheaper systems. I would say the issue isn't with the normal slashdot user since most of them would likely have atleast cheap gaming video cards that have atleast some sort of cooling. I attest almost all of the video cards I have bought would be able to handle playing long hours even overclocked.
mnewberg.com
Many posters are already bashing the concept of a 3D desktop. But if you listen to Jonathan Schwartz's description you will see that looking glass is not trying to be the definitive 'next-generation' desktop. Rather, it is an experiment, that is leveraging a collaborative, open-source development model in order to discover the next-generation desktop. I applaud their vision: they are generating an open, cute toy in the hopes of encouraging programmers to get involved, and help develop future GUIs. This project will help us figure out what features are useful innovations, and what features are just eye-candy that is wasting the CPU/GPU's energy.
I just thought of a way this might be made useful. It depends on sensing the location of the user's head. It would work so that a user could tilt his head like he's trying to see 'around' to the other side of the spherical interface and the window manager would rotate in the windows/information from that side. So if you are looking at a text editor and need to check out a document momentarily you could crane your neck (I'm talking a slight gesture, not really craning, but the same motion) and the web browser that is pushed off to the side would slide back in. You could read what you need to, then go back the other way to see the editor.
Perhaps a head position sensor would provide intelligent focusing for the extra dimensions? I can see something like this being useful in any window manager. You could do it with a camera and some custom recognition software perhaps, so no extra sensor would be required.
I personally would really like it if I could scroll a document or switch desktops (or the view of a very large desktop) with slight head gestures.
Stop the Slashdot Effect! Don't read the articles!
Sure there is, give them options, and guys who feel this way can use window managers like ION. =)
They're claiming this is "Java-based". Never heard of this kind of stuff running any way except as native code. A breakthrough in VM technology, or more abuse of the Java "brand"?
The Schwartz demo provoked lots of applause, but I was pretty underwhelmed. There are a few cool-looking visual effects, like turning a window over so you can write on the back. But no case is made for this making anybody's job easier. Just a lot of noise about "community computing" and other warm and fuzzy concepts that don't particularly relate. Oh yeah, and of course Microsoft doesn't have this and doesn't want you to have this! Please.
They'd, I do believe, attempt legal action against the University. We're trying to keep our students from being sued (which would be fish-in-a-barrel easy - they're not all like you and I are with computers) and the University from being forced to give up the names of the students. Or be taken to court about it. We decided the nicest thing to do was to read the letter, write / call the student and say hey, don't share things like that on the I-net, then tell the organization that we told them to stop, please leave now. Worked just fine, just happened all the time so we blocked things, sadly enough.
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.