Would 3D interfaces make things better?

I could maybe see doing it with virtual desktops. You would need a really large monitor for it work well.

Only when the projection is true 3D too (holograms and such). Though I have been thinkg about 3D-skins. imagine an app which you can spin around for specific controls.

There was a 3D shell...can't remember its name...but it had virtual 'rooms', etc....many of us went 'ooh, ah' for about ten minutes and the novelty wore off...

Is that anything like trying to make the windowblinds border circular when it is completely square?

ANd there is also Microsoft who's research department came up with The Task Gallery, an atempt to some sort of a 3D windows manager: http://research.microsoft.com/~maartenv/papers/CHI2000-Robertson-TaskGallery-submitted.pdf

I think it would be best to use 3D effects and graphics in an interface that's still 2D.

Good link paxx
What I saw there is it like something Apple has done it long time ago, but it makes you feel dizzy.

If it is anything like the TaskGallery, then yes! I like the TaskGallery idea, but it badly needs improvement.

http://research.microsoft.com/ui/TaskGallery/index.htm

A bit like the wristcomputer in the Final Fantasy movie, perhaps?

Hey C2zero, just read three posts above yours...

Jafo: that was Dimension. it is still available from here: http://www.shellfront.org/shells/dimension-1.00b.zip the vwm and the filemanager can also run as standalone apps.

i have seen one example that looked very good.

it was on an Open University program about GUI design. since it was only demonstrated on tv i have never got to interact with it personally.

they were showing a tree of data, about 6 layers deep. it started with one node at the top. each node branched into 10 sub nodes.

it was layed out sideways (top at the left, bottom on the right) on a monitor.

you clicked on a node to rotate it in the plane of the monitor. the idea was to rotate it so the desired item was on top. then you repeated at each node as you work down the tree, presumably refining your search as you went. the user was using a mouse to interact with the nodes.

it looked very attractive, and for a roughly symetrical tree seemed like a very appealing idea.

probably wouldnt work for the hightly lopsided directory structures i always seem to end up with on my computers though

what about the filemanager that was used in jurassic park? it was for unix, anyone know what it was called? that at least seemed like it could be useful

yeah, this http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html was it...sure beats packard bell's old 'navigator' interface with the rooms and the icons on shelves as far as usability goes...but 3d will never really take off without 3d inputs, a 2d mouse just wouldn't cut it efficiency wise

There are 3D input devices. I played with a space mouse some years ago to glide through 3D environments. Works pretty intuitive. Rotate forwards a bit and you go forwards, rotate back and you go back, press (gently) and you go down, lit and you go up. Takes a little bit of getting used to, but works like a charm.

Brad, did you ever see TurboGopher VR on the Mac?

I think that while a 3D interface is nice in theory, it just doesn't work on a 2D display. To illustrate what I mean a little more clearly, the Task Stack in MS's TaskGallery looks great, you can see more of each task than with a window maximized, but on closer inspection, it's just a window cascade with a 3d effect on it. You can use cascade right now on your windows without any addons (right click your taskbar) - why don't you? Simple, because it wastes valuable screen real estate. The will undoubtedly come a time when 3D display devices are the norm, but while we're stuff with 2D, we cannot have a true 3D interface, and any attempt to simulate a 3D interface will just make your desktop environment harder to work with.

AJC

I think 3D interfaces would be bad because they would be harder to cusotmize. I don't know how to make 3D textures or whatever it is you have to create. Personalization is really important to me.

There is a 3D Browser.replacement for Internet Explorer,I have tried but don't like at all,would appr your coment