With the US Department of Justice trying to split Microsoft in two,
Netropolitan has been wondering whether true innovation might begin to reach the
graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of tomorrow. Some think that two-dimensional
GUIs like Windows have had their day. One way of providing a 3D front end for
Windows has been dreamed up in Israel by Clockwise Technologies of Tel Aviv.
Called (with huge originality) Win3D, this might be one direction for the future
of GUIs. Instead of navigating a desktop, you move around a 3D graphics
environment that includes themed Office, Internet and Games 鈥渞ooms鈥濃�攁nd
open applications by using the 3D objects you鈥檒l find within them. Download the
test version for free at www.clockwise3d.com.
If a virtual office seems a little limiting, then Dutch programming outfit
Vimana has developed 3D Top, a virtual expanse within your desktop
(www.3dtop.com/sw/index.htm). It鈥檚 a bit like a minimalist theatre set, with
icons and folders hanging in space around you. Bill Gates isn鈥檛 resting on his
laurels, however, and Microsoft is already on the case to update Windows along a
similar 鈥渕ore inviting and interesting鈥� line. The TaskGallery is Microsoft鈥檚
concept product: a 3D graphical space where hanging pictures are replaced by
open applications. Check out pictures and videos of the possible future of
Windows at http://research.microsoft.com/ui/TaskGallery/index.htm.
A 3D interface might sound a little implausible on a 2D screen, so how
about a truly 3D interface that you can actually stand in? Chalmers Medialab in
Sweden is working on a device called a 3D-CUBE
(www.medialab.chalmers.se/cube/index.html),
a 3-metre cube that uses 3D glasses, a
motion tracker and a dataglove to completely immerse the user in the software.
It鈥檚 a bit of a brute-force solution鈥攖here鈥檚 certainly a huge processing
overhead鈥攂ut at least people are beginning to think about making computers
more fun.
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