I’m probably the last to see the
BumpTop 3D desktop metaphor, a project based at the University of Toronto. They are modeling user interactions with an actual destkop, in a 3D graphical environment, things like interactions with objects, spacial organization, etc. The
video demonstrates some very interesting and rather sophisticated interactions. I look forward to the day when we all have our own
SuperSkewer.
4 thoughts on “Interesting 3D Desktop Metaphor by the bumptop.ca guys”
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No, you were not the last one to see that 😉
I dunno how useful that would be for the whole desktop as such. (Heck, I much prefer the shell anyway, I very seldom use Explorer (when on Windows) and even less often use Nautilus (when on GNOME)…)
But for *applications* that manipulate collections of for instance photographs, I definitely see interaction like that being very useful. f-spot? Apple’s Aperture already has something vaguely in the same direction, I think.
While it looks cool, the ideas appear to be pretty old. Peter Merholz (from Adaptive Path) gives a couple of links to classic papers in this blog post: http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2006/06/22/youve-got-piles/
The SuperSkewer looks a lot like the Wii-mote. 😉
I agree, it is an older concept, but has been brought to the level that it never saw before. I think it never took off because it did not have the ability and flexability that I saw in that video. Personally I hope to see this as an option (either free or commercially) on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I agree with Tor’s comment that it would also have a GREAT application for photo organizers. Throw some meta-data, basic or advanced photo editing/enhancing, and a bit more organizational features and you could have a pretty good product.
Overall, I don’t see it taking over the ENTIRE desktop anytime soon, replacing the background/icon plane as well as some feature-specific areas of specialty programs could give it a good start.