Ideas for redesigning the "desktop"...

[drbobit]

I just want to open the discussion on something I've been thinking about for a while...

Does anyone else out there think there may be a better way of displaying the desktop than the classic "window" based idea we have at the moment?

I'd just like to get a brainstorm going and/or find out if anyone knows of any linux projects that are seriously looking again at the idea of how we organise the OS GUI.

Ideas I have been playing with are things like:


Semi trasnparent windows
Better touch screen intergration
Simply buying a 32" monitor
Stacking of windows (Similar dare I say it to the Vista approach)
Using headsets to give vast amounts of desktop space to work with


These are just a few ideas but I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks so feel free to post any ideas no matter how off the wall...

[loserboy]

have you ever tried beryl?

[Ghil]

probably, and it's not a redesign of the window concept...

I think that a 3d reprensation of a desk, with the windows being more like papers (stackable, foldable). it would give a sense of freedom and personnal organization that I think lacks in current designs.

[sloggerkhan]

i saw a concept once where you could divide your desktop into rectangularish shaded regions and set them to display things like calendars, to-do lists, rss feeds, folder contents, and such. It was nifty.

[floke]

Have you seen 'looking glass'
Its pants though

[Ghil]

looking glass is a really good start in my opinion :)

[Steveway]

Windows acting like paper? So your looking for Metisse?

[Ghil]

kind of, but much more advanced than that. and windows would stay open (or folded) until you need them (saving the order between sessions). it would mimic a real-life desk, basically.

edit: but then again, another concept I would like to change would be the input method. a mouse is too limited for what I had in mind.

[muguwmp67]

Actually, Beryl still uses the 'windows' metaphor that we are all familiar with. I'm sure there are human factors projects out there investigating alternative ways of interacting with PC's, but who knows what will come of them.

Part of the problem is hardware. There are only so many things you can do with a mouse and keyboard. Available hardware limits the possibilities of the interface. For instance, Xwindows and the Mac were not really practical until someone invented the mouse.

One of my favorite devices in the past few years was a logitech mouse with imation ifeel capabilities. This device was almost universally panned by the technical press, because they all felt that it was a useless gadgety feature. They couldn't have been more wrong. I got this mouse for several PC newbies, and it made teaching them windows so much easier. The mouse would bump as they moved over buttons and such, and the tactile response reinforced their learning process, and made them more confident. Logitech dropped the product, which is a damn shame in my opinion.

But there are new inventions coming out today. I haven't played with one, but the controller for the Wii is an example. You could do some really interesting things with that technology and a head mounted display (VR, here we come). And I'm sure there are people out there researching it.

Most people turn off the sound events in windows, ubuntu doesn't come with sound schemes, although you can make your own. Sound themes are not necessarily a waste of resources. As with the ifeel mouse, they provide additional learning reinforcement.

I think part of the problem is that techies don't pay a lot of attention to human factors. The study of interfaces, everything from computers to phones, dashboards, and even doors (which way should they open?)) How often do you see interface options for the colorblind, for example?

Enough of that. I think that as people investigate the limitations of the windowed interface, they will be able to come up with alternatives. Microsoft tries to refine its interface every few years, but still hasn't succeeded in coming up with anything truly intuitive yet, even with its millions of dollars spent on R&D. Part of this is due to GroupThink, no doubt, but its also because coming up with a new way of interacting with the PC requires a rare level of creative thinking.

[raublekick]

i think pretty much everyone would agree that the current desktop paradigm needs a change. there are plenty of people who don't even use a graphical environment because they especially know how inefficient it is!

however, i don't think anyone really knows what exactly should be changed. pretty much every 3D desktop software (even Vista!) is taking some sort of step in the right direction, but in other areas they are stagnant or even stepping backwards. building a 3D layer over the current paradigm is not the best solution, in my opinion, but it is a start.

the change will come with open-source though. there is plenty to mess around with, and as long as people keep messing around with various ideas, something amazingly fresh and useful will appear. this is unlikely to happen with Vista and OSX though, because we are forced to do things according to their vision. and their vision is blinded by what consumers want. consumers may claim to want something new, but hey, we're all part of the linux community, we know quite well how users react with something new :)

[Ghil]

Keyboard and mouse should and will be replaced by voice+movement recognition. from that point, the need to display information in 3d will be evident. But it would be difficult to find a better container for 2d information like texts than windows...

[raublekick]

Keyboard and mouse should and will be replaced by voice+movement recognition. from that point, the need to display information in 3d will be evident. But it would be difficult to find a better container for 2d information like texts than windows...

this would be bad news for handicapped and deaf people. but then again, i guess someone could make a handicapable DE!

[Omnios]

Hi hi I have been playing around with a left pannel with icons set at a large size for programs that I use a lot. Anyways after reading this it might be possible to have a menu system build off the left panel and this would also allow for other customizations such as menu sections and popular progams launched. The nice part of this it is instantly accessable by simply putting the cursor to the left side. Now as to how to do this, well its got so many possibilites and options for setting something like this up. I like it as it is different than what is being used and might go beyond meu and OSX set ups.

[Minyaliel]

I think the Mezzo desktop is a very good idea. Using the corners like that is a great way of making things easy for lazy people like myself ;)

[LKRaider]

A few links that might be of interest:

Multitouch interface:
Project website (http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/)
Video demo at youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LByAFrcOwJk)

3D desktop organization:
LowFat project (http://macslow.thepimp.net/?page_id=18)
BumpTop prototype (http://honeybrown.ca/Pubs/BumpTop.html)

OLPC Sugar Interface:
Video demo at youtube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=DwzCsOFxT-U)
Sugar project page (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar)
OLPC Human Interface Guidelines (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines)

Maemo tablet interface:
Maemo project screenshots (http://www.maemo.org/screenshots.html)

Ultra simplified interfaces:
Foxybuntu (http://blogs.gnome.org/view/nigeltao/2006/10/02/0)

[Ghil]

lowfat is going in a very good direction :)

Bumptop too ^^

[aktiwers]

I saw some video of a desktop that actually looked like a "real desktop" some months ago.. it looked really cool. All the files where like paper or books, and you could stack them around on the desktop. Yeah cool, but I cant remember the name of it, and I lost the link :(
(it was on YouTube)

[Ghil]

it would have been cool to know the name, since it's exactly what I'm looking for :)

[aktiwers]

Ghil!!!
I found it.. by simply typing 3D Desktop into Youtube.. some have proberbly seen this before..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ

Edit:
Just saw you already knew this...(didnt read your other post before now..)

[Ghil]

ah the bumptop :) it is pretty nifty, but aimed at tablet pcs :P

[IYY]

Buy a second monitor. It's more of a change than any of the other ones you propose, and will make you more productive, rather than less.

[Omnios]

Anything that is a good change of a desktop has to have a few features. Now first off it will have to add new or change functionality and interaction. The most limiting factor will be that is does not slow down the computer as this is a Linux strength. Now even if the new idea is a resource hog people will still use it but it would probably loose out with users with older systems. This is a mane issue and one that stopped me from trying eye candy till I get a faster machine. Also the time to access the new feature can be a limiting factor.

Now there are a lot of features that are interesting such as being able to put apps sideways etc witch may be use full if you can stack a bunch etc. Sort of like a bunch of windows stacked on the left or right with quick access to bring there focus to the front. Developing a 4 button mouse into the desktop might be interesting and not take a lot to develop.

I like the idea of running a new menu system on a left panel for its access speed.

I guess the first steps are identifying what you want to do with a new desktop.

[WiseElben]

The only problem I see with voice recognition and all that fancy stuff is that I have to use more energy. Plus, don't you think that your voice will start to hurt after a while? Plus, you don't want people randomly talking in front of a screen, especially in an office/dorm setting.

I think we need a more advanced mouse gestures system. The current ones available (Firefox addons, for example) are useful in a way, but a redesign of the mouse itself to allow a more flexible and advance mouse-gestures system would benefit the desktop.

[delfick]

Ultra simplified interfaces:
Foxybuntu (http://blogs.gnome.org/view/nigeltao/2006/10/02/0)

i'm thinking of a basic ui (for those people who really shouldn't be using a computer but do anyways, where the key is simplicity and there is only ONE way of doing anything)

like this foxybuntu thing, but different....

say an interface like my first attached mockup

where the bar at the top and bottom are always visible

the internet button is a drop down menu with three apps, one for email, one for internet and one for IM... (with these being custom made _basic_ applications

the documents button opens up a window that contains the contents of a single folder.....maybe split into different categories (like second attached mockup)
where each button at the top opens a different group of files

double clicking on any file will open them up in an appropiate program, with no option to choose a different program because a) there would only be one program per task and b) it would cause unecessary confusion (remember the target users of such an interface :D)

i say with a word processor though, don't make it too basic, methinks openoffice wouldn't be too bad to use :D

though when saving a file make the save dialog like the third posted mockup where it opens up the appropiate group, displays what files are already there and gives the option to choose a name....

the advanced button would open the normal save dialog...though to continue with my philosophy of only one way to do anything, maybe that shouldn't be there ??......

back to the top bar...the games button would be a list of all the installed games......

and the window list on the bottom would just be like any normal window list.....


would this be possible (also, would anyone be able to make such a thing ?? (i'm serious, i want it made :D)

and does anyone else share my enthusiam for such an idea ?? :D



(also, sry the mockups look so bad, i only really know how to make simple things like this in macromedia flash, and running it in wine makes it a real pain to use (you can't copy and paste, you can't type too fast and it's slow..)

[aysiu]

I agree with IYY--dual monitor or bigger monitor makes all the difference...

[DoctorMO]

I wouldn't mind typing or speaking commands; the main development hurdle is getting the computer to understand context correctly

[Erik Trybom]

Below is my desktop and sidebar (standard KDE kicker panel). It's on auto-hide so it appears as soon as I move the mouse cursor to the left of the screen.

I think it's the best config I've tried so far. One click brings up any currently running program. One click starts most common apps. Two clicks are required for the more unusual ones (through the K menu). Time, date and systray is there without even clicking once. And if you like, it's easy to add more stuff there such as free disk space, network load, CPU temp and whatnot.

I don't care much for the desktop methaphore. Since I keep a reasonably strict directory order, my computer hard disk is actually far tidier than my desktop is.

[manmower]

Multitouch interface:
Project website (http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/)
Video demo at youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LByAFrcOwJk)

Wow, that is just insane. Love it!

[floke]

Far too much hard work though.
Also, if it doesn't do what you want and you whack it, does it hit you back?

Has anyone tried this? (Matisse desktop on Mandriva)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxsUKX6xXyE

It's still experimental so you can't install it (I think). But you can download the LiveCD from

http://www.mandriva.com/en/projects/metisse/download

PS: Looking Glass is still pants :)

[Omnios]

I agree with IYY--dual monitor or bigger monitor makes all the difference...


I vouch for the bigger monitor making a difference. I went from a 17" monitor to a 19" and it makes a huge difference. I do not see myself going back to a 17" .

[mykalreborn]

i've allways dreamed of using an os that looks like this:http://www.etsy.com/color.php
totally totally unpractical, but ever so good looking :D

[mushroom]

When totally spatial, I love the desktop metaphor. I recently switched to Gnome because they get most things right. Spatial meaning icons stay where you put them, as do windows and such. It's pretty much the idea that practically everything can be controlled with the mouse.

I operate Gnome with no taskbar and with windows containing only a close button. I've also set Nautilus to spatial mode. Everything stays how I like it, with little to no change between reboots, etc. Logically, this should be a pretty inefficient way to work, but concerning human ability to simply recall something from one's subconscious, it's extremely efficient, like walking into a room and flicking the lightswitch without even thinking about it. Stacking windows on top of each other rather than minimizing/unminimizing and alt+tabbing all over the place also seems handier to me, because I'm arranging the windows and I know exactly where they are. When it gets too cluttered for me to be able to see a window I want, I simply throw the mouse into the lower left corner and Beryl's scale shows everything. It reminds me of working at a desk and arranging papers accompanied with the speed and added functionality computers are supposed to give.

[loserboy]

well now that i see what you guys are talking about i can add my 2 cents.

I have to agree that the mouse is probably holding us back, so I say develop an eyetoy (for the ps2 i think) type interface to replace the mouse, that would be an easy thing to do and open up alot of new possibilities.

Second and still in early development, I saw a article in Popular science about a device that followed the movements of your eye around the screen, they are making it for paralysed people and that could be really cool i think.

[mips]

Second and still in early development, I saw a article in Popular science about a device that followed the movements of your eye around the screen, they are making it for paralysed people and that could be really cool i think.

Could be a derivitive of helmet mounted sights in fighter jets.

[loserboy]

yea maybe, I saw it i while back, seemed really cool, but at least the technology is there

[aeto]

heheh..with all the recent articles debating Linux looking too much like Windows. I guess having an empy deskspace makes it unlike MAC or Windows, right and left click having the menus and everything else u need. Elive goes pretty much that way and i dare say its an innovative move, tho it's 5% like MAC. I'm not too intent on the idea of getting rid of the mouse and keyboard, which are hardware. I simply do not want to use any other method, being it voice or eyes. That being said, i dont think the mouse and keyboard is a big factor in making an OS look and feel different, as this is what this topic is about no? Computers, UNIX or not, started out with a keyboard and then a mouse (have u guys seen the first wooden mouse?) :lol:

Here's (http://www.sglnx.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=172.html) my take on the Linux look.

[Rui Pais]

for me a good desktop is simply one that is flexible and allows a user to configure to it's most productive way.
...in fact i don't understand why people seems to imply that there's a good desktop. In only one way.
It depends on the user who likes (or are used) or not this or that feature.
A good desktop is one that allow you to configure to exactly what you want, a bad it's rigid and don't "support" your preferences.

I, just as an example, don't like panels. They irritates me. I used to set panels in all computer i work to auto hide to avoid see the ugly gray bars waste space. It irritates me too when i can't choose if minimizes icons are show as icons, titles only or both. I never get icons on desktop. They seems to exist to be covered by apps... so why they exist?... (my taste, of course, i'm not generalizing). Same for the bizarre button/applet for "showing the desktop"... a bad solution (MS?) to get to the covered desktop icons (lol) .Quick launchers with icons so small that you waste time and effort just to hit them (contradictories). Main menu tied to a specific place on screen (either up or down, left or right) I demand to myself a main menu everywhere in the screen and at a mouse distance of zero. And, of course, full control of its items and submenus. Light functional desktlets/applets. They can be covered cause usually they are only informative (time, weather, disk/cpu usage...). Big nice way to access virtual desktops (5 or six at least) if possible not small brown squares (hard to hit and ugly)

Thats all i need(/unneed) to be productive. For my specific case i'm very happy with e17, that fulfill my needs. I tried from gnome, xfce, windowmaker, fvwm and fluxbox. And never been so comfortable as with e. Better, it offers an excellent balance between easiness, eye-candy and resources. :)

[Spr0k3t]

I came up with a design that was intelligent and unique to a 3D environment many years ago in my GUI Structures class. Everyone in the class thought it was the neatest thing since sliced bread. I don't have the stills or the video I created using Lightwave, but let me see if I can describe it.

First off, let's start with the obvious unit: The Window
In the design the first element I wanted to remove is the window and draw the user deeper into the running program. The Window only shows a flat representation of what you are working with. Instead I decided a better approach would be "fields". Since I also wanted to do away with the mouse (more later), the device used would allow the user to navigate in the space to gather tools or functions.

The mouse
In a 3D environment, you can't use a 2D spatial device effectively, instead a better approach is a proximity field. You've seen the technology used when mapping human movement for 3D movies/video (Final Fantasy movie did this for all the human characters). With the proximity fields, you can just reach out and grab the tools you want to use and change the field you are working in. A good example of the 3D mousing would be similar to what you see in Johnny Mnemonic or Minority Report, only without the use of gloves.

Directory Tree
Here's another aspect that would be thrown away and replaced. Instead of having /root/ /home/luser/ and all the other directories as such, the directory would be seen as a mobil and each area you dig further into, becomes a new view of the mobil (I had this part animated, looked sweet). Navigation would be a breeze by this 3D tree approach, but to make it even faster, the filesystem would sort on type defined by the mimetypes to give it a more web visual approach. So you could move through the area of images and into the SVG graphics with a couple flicks of your fingers.

There's a lot more I wrote, but this is what I remember from the top of my head. I'll have to check with the project leader for the group I was in to see if he still has all of the information I wrote about.

[drbobit]

Wow! There's loads of good stuff for me to have a chew on there. I love the idea of a Beryl type desktop with a multi-touch display but I get the feeling that if they are avaliable there probably well out of my budget.

I think what I'll try is a beryl desktop on Edgy install and maybe twin screens if Beryl supports it :D

Thanks all!

Bob

[aeto]

yes enlightenment is indeed the bomb :) Sorry..the lightweight candy, slim and slender yet beautiful. I cant wait for E17 to be stable..because the unstable ones are already great! As for missing out on the cool effects of aiglx/beryl/compiz, lets just say beauty doesnt equate to 3-dimensional ;)

[RAV TUX]

I just want to open the discussion on something I've been thinking about for a while...

Does anyone else out there think there may be a better way of displaying the desktop than the classic "window" based idea we have at the moment?

I'd just like to get a brainstorm going and/or find out if anyone knows of any linux projects that are seriously looking again at the idea of how we organise the OS GUI.

Ideas I have been playing with are things like:
Semi trasnparent windows
Better touch screen intergration
Simply buying a 32" monitor
Stacking of windows (Similar dare I say it to the Vista approach)
Using headsets to give vast amounts of desktop space to work withThese are just a few ideas but I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks so feel free to post any ideas no matter how off the wall...What you are describing for the most part already exist it's called Beryl, try it out.

There is a great link for a live CD here:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=349732

[CheshireMac]

Okay . . .this is probably the coolest discussion I've come across on this forum, and I've been here a while. ~LOL~
In my opinion, the key is in hardware development, and software/hardware integration . . .I'm not trying to sound like a strung out geek or anything, but I think the future is in truly personal computers, with motion sensitive hand devices and either projection visuals or visor technology . . . Screens and mice and keyboards are soon to be obsolete, and true VR is going to come back, only this time, it's going to be universally applicable, and done right this time (no more crappy arcade VRs) . . .But I also think that the integration of software into the hardware will make things a little more stable and usable, basically turning everything into a universal plug'n'play medium . . . I look very much forward to seeing this take off, and I think a lot of companies are taking it in stride, individually coming up with unrelated ideas that just need someone to unify them into one concept . . .Can't wait. ~LOL~

[rodrigo juarez]

Ok this one is long.

First off, sorry for my English, i know it sucks.
I'm by far a designer or someone experienced in GUI design but i have some ideas born off many years using computers.

The fist think that comes to my mind is What are your computer mainly used for?
Any idea gived here would be great if it's targeted to the correct user.

I recently upgraded from a 15 inch to a 19 inch monitor and I can say that it has been the most great upgrade ever done to my computer in years (I started when ACER released its 286), at least for a while... It looks like every time monitors grow in size, the applications grow in wasted space, so now I feel like I should buy a 24 inch one as I just can't have two windows in usable size side by side.
So having two screens at least 22 inches side by side would be great for (even) years to come.

I think that while monitors keep being used to display the output, there aren't many things that can be changed, unless we start to see VR glasses to become common.

So we can start thinking in big monitors for the output so, what about the input?.

Is kind of hard to think in some other device than the mouse except for the touch screens.
They are very useful for file management, work with the windows but: would they be useful for a writer? for command-line work? Not to mention that your arm is going to get tired of reaching for the screen, unless you put the screen in front of your keyboard (and then drop the coffee on it =))
So it could be convenient but not for everyone.
Now, the voice commands. Do you know someone that doesn't feel a little embarrassed of speaking to a computer (even while IMing?) I don't, maybe it's not a bad idea if you get used to it but I would find impractical to be turning off the mic every time my brother ask me something or when the phone rings or to scream someone to bring me dinner when they come back. And all that just to be repeating every command twice until someone manages to make a really usable recognition engine.
And what if you use to work hearing the news on the radio?
I hardly can imagine voice recognition to be an option for some time.
I will skip mentioning those fancy data gloves from Minority Report for now.

As for the Desktop metaphor I think beryl could be leading the way we can have things more on sight as long as we keep off of using so intrincated menu systems.
Things could get easy if we simplify the options to the user as the more options we have the most difficult is for us to make a decision.
Something like cell phone menu systems. We can change the colors or the backgrounds but not the structure, so we get used to them instead trying to accommodate to our needs and that menus are usually pretty simple, we know that pressing menu, 1, 2 will give us a new message screen, for instance.
Simpler menus and some more room can make a difference.

I installed today lowfat and I have already seen BumpTop and I think while they don't offer any option for file system management they could be very usable for people managing files based on visual content (i.e. photos) but, again, it would be almost useless to writers (who can write in a window upside-down?).
It could also be useful for file management, provided that they develop a way to do it. (Don't get me wrong I really think they're fantastic!)

But here goes my two cents.
Let's give the tools a try, wings to our mind and let's imagine a computer with mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, voice recon and two 22 or more inches monitors side by side (speakers are optional).

I imagine a GUI with multi touch interface (nothing fancy, just resize, drag and drop) in a 3d environment just like lowfat (since it's open source and we could mess with it and I can bet BumpTop will be premium priced and close sourced)

There is a menu icon for basic computer control (you know, session, restart, shutdown) in some corner.
The other menus are context ones for all operations that cannot be performed with mouse or finger movements (i.e. it would be unnecessary to have 'move' in the context menu as we can move the containers with the pointing device, same goes to 'copy' or 'delete')
We hold the click for the menu and double click normally.

The twist is this: Inside of the 3d environment just like lowfat, we have a file manager laying on the bottom of the screen with 'containers', just like lowfat's garbage bin but in some kind of array, corresponding to file system's folders. The difference could be to avoid nesting this containers and have them on top of the virtual floor, separated by type (system, user, devices, etc).

It's kind of complicated to explain but did you see Jurassic park? the part when the girl says "it's a UNIX system, I know that!"? well, kind of the same. All of you who didn't see the movie, there's a computer controlling the park and the GUI seems like boxes in a 3d space (each box is maybe a program or a device), and the user dives the 3d space with the mouse (in a very slow fashion)
The goal would be the make the file system (at least apparently) the simplest possible and let the user find their stuff as fast as possible with least mouse movements.

The interaction would be like: we start with a set of containers in the screen, once we click one it drop its content to the screen (the container flies and turns upside-down while the desktop fades in) where we can manage the objects (any kind of file) a-la lowfat.
We could make rules for the kind of interaction depending on the content of the file, also.

By lowering the mouse to the bottom of the screen, the lower half of the desktop would fade to let us see the containers below. Mouse up, would give us the desktop again or we could interact with some container to make the desktop go back (in depth) and get some content out of another container to put it on desktop.
While there will be a desktop (it's hard to even imagine the life without it) we could make it less omnipresent, giving a sense of control back to the user.

The main idea is to avoid excessive clicking, complicated menus and an intuitive design focused to simplicity (yeah right!)

Damn, I bet I wasn't clear!
I can get some screen shots made if you think the idea would worth it. They would help.

Any feedback would be appreciated. =)

[koshatnik]

probably, and it's not a redesign of the window concept...

I think that a 3d reprensation of a desk, with the windows being more like papers (stackable, foldable). it would give a sense of freedom and personnal organization that I think lacks in current designs.

Less is more. There is no real need for a desktop to be in "3D". It doesn't make things more productive - its a gimmick. I've yet to see a 3D environment that makes general office tasks, for example, more productive or effecient.

Flux/black/openbox with tabbed window browsing and 4 desktops is, quite frankly, perfection. The windows don't need to be in 3D. The vista thing is pure showground ballyhoo.

Changes to the filemanager are more important. More RCLICK options to chain searches, bookmarks and quick launch stuff would be cool, but then keyboard shortcuts could do all that and are easier to implement.

The average office user is going to have absolutely no use for a touchscreen. Maybe graphics devs would.

[phenest]

A few links that might be of interest:

Multitouch interface:
Project website (http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/)
Video demo at youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LByAFrcOwJk)

That's it! Never mind trying to re-design the desktop, just have a touch-screen. No need for a keyboard or mouse. The multi-touch interface has so many possibilities, and would be much user friendly. Perhaps for some uses, you could add a 2nd monitor to act as an ordinary monitor.

[bobbybobington]

3d monitors. Actual displays (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6152500.html) that show 3d without any glasses. This could just open up so many possibilities.

[LKRaider]

An update on the Multitouch interface, check it out!
http://on10.net/Blogs/jesse/perceptive-pixel-reinvents-the-human-computer-interface/
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid533361602?bctid=422563006
http://dwerf.wordpress.com/2007/02/04/perceptive-pixel/

Also, a music related alternative interface:
http://dwerf.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/reactable/

[rodrigo juarez]

Great!
He would become my personal hero if He get the project GPL'd! =)

[DoctorMO]

There is more to be said for hid devices but no one has come up with the one I want yet.

[matthekc]

i think it's important to look at the direction a lot of computers are going larger screens, heavy multimedia, and more layman users. I think the current data metaphor is not only uninteractive but unfriendly from the family couch. You should be able to control basic apps from the couch with nothing more than a remote or as the tech improves voice.

[EdThaSlayer]

All that we know is far more touchscreen technology so that using a physical keyboard and mouse would be irrelevant. Some guy did make a prototype of this touchscreen technology and showed it to the world in a California tech show a while ago.

[bigbang]

i feel like contributing but i think my idea is too complicated to describe in words so im going to make a mock up animation. yey! but the basic input system is a projected multitouch screen (which i dont have which is why it will be a mock up) it will be used for every thing, and also i banishing the idea of individual apps and with them- "windows". im off to set this mock up in motion with everyones favourite opensource program- blender (yes, i know its not everyones favourite).
EDIT: oops, spoke too soon, seems i will have to use flash, it will be easier.

[Spano]

Flux/black/openbox with tabbed window browsing and 4 desktops is, quite frankly, perfectionCouldn't agree more koshatnik!

[bigbang]

i have just found:
it is very hard to think of ideas for new desktops without mice when you are sitting in front of one that has a mouse.

[LKRaider]

Seems Microsoft is researching multi-sensitive interfaces aswell. The MS Surface project seems very promising:
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

Let's hope we get an opensource variant aswell! :D

[Rui Pais]

Seems Microsoft is researching multi-sensitive interfaces aswell. The MS Surface project seems very promising:
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

Let's hope we get an opensource variant aswell! :D

damn it i hate that my wife and kid keeps touching the monitor constantly... I spend hours clean it!

That seems to require either non-sweeting human beens or a constant cleaning cloth close to the computer.

( but i liked the idea of painting with real fingers or get kids painting with they own hands :) )

[RAV TUX]

Seems Microsoft is researching multi-sensitive interfaces aswell. The MS Surface project seems very promising:
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

Let's hope we get an opensource variant aswell! :D

Microsoft stole the idea from this guy:


http://multi-touchscreen.com/perceptive-pixel-jeff-han.html

of course this guys invention is 1000 better then Microsofts

[WoodyMahan]

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

[bigbang]

what we need is a project that wil aim to create a 3d image from two cameras creating a stereoscopic machine vision. this is a much cheaper alternative to the current multitouch systems though it certainly doesnt replace them.
btw, is there an alternative to rear projecting an FTIR which is cheaper and more energy efficient.

[mech7]

BumpTop is pretty cool :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ

[dlai]

Well I also have a small proposal here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2810689), involving MacSlow's lowfat, and Jeff Han's technology.

http://dlai.jafu.dk

[bigbang]

I think all the multitouch applications so far have been full screen. This lends itself to looking cool however it’s not very practical. I suggest we make a desktop environment that can detect multitouch (we should use touchlib as its already existing even though its linuxified yet). My idea is that the windows for all the apps would be like the images in lowfat. you can access all the folders from root at the desktop instead of using a file manager, you can have all the app shortcuts in a special root folder but mostly you would find the files you have created (that would be an image of the program when you last saved it) then when you pin the app down somehow (so that it doesn’t float when you are trying to gesture at the app) it opens up the actual app rather than the representation. I was thinking of flipping the app (like in the ms surface video) to access the properties and being able to switch between gesture modes for accessing all the different tools through gestures (I was thinking the most productive way of doing this would be voice command).
So there is my little idea for a multitouch DE. if anyone who would like to do this please contact me, I don’t have very good programming skills but I want to learn so maybe we can get a project going to get Linux looked at; the first fully functioning multitouch operating system.

[DeadSuperHero]

Actually, I think the windows for Linux will always be built-upon for most users. Though, a desk is a cool idea.
Actually, I'd like to see computers printed on glass, with a unique fluxbox-like, modular windows that are touch screen.
Like, wherever you touch, a light illuminates the screen, stays there, and various options surround the light, and you use the same finger to navigate through the option's menus. It would be sort of like LucasArt's verbcoin GUI they had for their various games.
Think of the various menus like this: Applications, Places, System, Actions, Cancel
And they'd surround the light, which the light's size could be determined by whatever you were using as a "mouse" (your finger, your whole hand, a pen)
Not only that, but you'd be easily able to drag and group windows together, automatically saving their functions together into a "superprogram"
Plus, it'd have this awesome dark blue theme, with drawings of working gears and circuits.
And when you navigate through menus, it'd highlight the options with this awesome glowing yellow highlight.
And, to go further, what if the whole interface was 3D...and implanted into the user's MIND?
I've been hoping of a MIND OS for years. It'd be awesome. I'm not saying "Let's do it today.", but an Open Source, Linux based, Mind Operating System would be incredible. It would be just the right jumpstart virtual reality needs.
Besides which, being able to IM and surf the web in your mind would be...amazing.

[bigbang]

i have posted this else where on the forum but i think it would go well in this thread too.
Abstract
I have been thinking of a desktop environment for a couple of months now that uses Multitouch and is very uniform in the way it handles applications. The desktop environment would run on tables similar but smaller than the Microsoft surface tables. Projects to make DIY tables like these are quite advanced so making one shouldn’t be too difficult. The idea is that within the environment, all applications would have no buttons and be interfaceless (at least the main part of the applications) tools would be used by performing gestures.
Description
Desktop
The desktop is the place where all the application are held. It also acts as a file manager. The desktop starts with an applications icon a files icon and a root icon making the Ubuntu circle, plus all the drives (not including the hard drive) floating around it. It is important to note that the desktop is infinite and can be scaled with a scaling gesture with two fingers touching it. It can also be moved and rotated by using one or two fingers.
When you click one of the icons it will open up all the files and folder it contains by having them expand in circles around the icon pushing the other icons out of the way. Clicking on folders does the same thing. A file is a picture of the file in its last state. Clicking a file or one of the 3 icons will make it absorb all its files and folders again (allowing the icons pushed to go back to there places). To keep a file or folder out you keep one finger on it while pressing the folder/icon (the icon still belongs to that folder even though it is kept out so it will go back into the folder when you shut down the computer). To move a file/folder into a new folder you simply drag it on to it.
Files and folders can be dragged, rotated and rescaled in the same way as the desktop.
the App Folder
Inside the app folder there are blank files of each type of application on the computer. These can be organized into folders if wished.
the Root and Files Folder
The root icon leads to the root directory and files to the home directory.
the Main App Section
This is the part of the file that is shown as an image on the desktop. To activate and application from the picture found on the desktop you have to pin the picture. This prevents the application from moving so that its application specific gestures can be used on it and it converts the image it was up to this point into the actual application by loading the program then loading the file and placing it exactly the same place as the image was.
When pinned the gesture option panel is opened next to the main app section.
The main app section should contain no buttons unless it is an application that requires them such as a calculator app (which incidentally cant be saved so can only be opened by navigation through the app icon to its blank state picture).
An application closes, and returns to just being a picture representation of itself, not when it is unpinned but when it is unpinned and returned to the closed folder from which it came.
the Gesture Option Panel
The gesture option panel can be moved, rotated and scaled and carries the options for each tool currently assigned to each gesture. It is specific to each app currently pinned. It is similar in function to the option panel sported by all the macromedia applications. The options it contains can be collapsed to a vertical column and expanded to a horizontal header with text and text boxes underneath.
Gesture Assignment Options
These options control which tools are assigned to which gestures and how the gesture affects the tool. And example of this would a rescale tool assigned to a two-finger motion. The layout of this panel is similar to the gesture option panel.
To access this panel you have to make a two fingered flipping motion on the gesture option panel. This flips the panel revealing the gesture assignment options panel.
Application Options
The application options are laidout in the same style as the other options but affect all the options of the applications (but not its gestures).
To access this you must unpin the application and flip it in the same was as the gesture option panel.
Pinning
To pin an application you must tap twice with two fingers on the application. Doing the same gesture on a pinned app unpins it.
System Options
Flipping the desktop in the same way as everything else accesses the system options. These options are laid out in the same way as the other options but they have sub categories, as well, to expand.
Notification
Notification would be done with transparent symbols that appear around the boarder of the screen and can be click on to send you to a place in the options or open a blank application.
GTK compatibility
I wanted this desktop environment to be compatible with GTK so that programs don’t have to be rewritten.
Tools and App Options
The app options are the windows that can be opened from the file, edit … buttons at the top of an application (the ones that end with `…`). Tools are all the other things in file, edit… menus. The tools can be assigned to gestures using the gesture assignment options.
Gesture Option Panel
Here I am not sure what I could use from the GTK libraries to make these options.
Mock Up
I am going to make a video mock up but I want to know what applications people would like me to show in the mock up (e.g. Firefox, the Gimp). And secondly, what is the best application in Ubuntu to do this (I can always resort to flash).

[hessiess]

have a blender like non overlaping interface

[rax_m]

Recently there was a news article on the BBC about some guys who developed a non-instrusive head-set that allowed you to manipulate objects by thinking in certain ways. I think that will be the future of the desktop. Tho' a keyboard willl probably still be the most efficient for typing.. that way you can type while thinking of something else ;)

Can't find the article at the mo', but it's only a couple of months old.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Here is my idea, featuring PClinux:

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/343/plosaor6.th.png (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plosaor6.png)
this shot shows a very basic desktop feel, a very thin taskbar panel at the top (sorta like Mac OSX in a way, but is wort of like windows as it has the taskbar applet in it)
and a applet bar at the bottom (also like OSX)
the top bar has a rounded start button similar to Vista
the close and lock buttons at the end of the top bar, with the typical weather app, clock and system monitor.
The applet bar has all the essentials, Konqueror, home, help, firefox, the X kill applet, , KDE's control center, synaptic and for us mandriva/ PCLOS users the mandriva control center

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/4396/plosa1ns4.th.png (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plosa1ns4.png)
Now this shot shows how I made my window decoration a little more unique.
I have a close button at the far right like where it would be in windows, a minimize button and the help button.
on the other side I put a shade button on the far left, the maximize button and the menu button

so mine is a fusion of sorts, a bit of this and a bit of that but a bit of everything...
I am Frankenstein!

[BDNiner]

It will be hard to break out of the windowed way of displaying an OS. I think the windowed way needs to head into the 3rd dimension. But we would also need a control device that works in 3 dimensions also. not a plain like the mouse. I personally would like to break out of windows and have the different pieces of the application you are using float around the screen. That way you can arrange them any way you like. like if your different tabs in firefox could move around on their own, possibly even to different workspaces. That would be great.

[SunnyRabbiera]

the windowed way of OS's in linux wont go nowhere at least for another 10 years or so as there is the need to support lower end computers.
Sure a hyper 3d desktop environment sounds like a cool idea but we have not gone very far in that direction.

[BDNiner]

Beryl and compiz showed me that it is not too far off. Especially since hardware is advancing a lot faster than software is.

[SunnyRabbiera]

there is still a schism though, we are close but also far away...

[dlai]

i have posted this else where on the forum but i think it would go well in this thread too.
Abstract
I have been thinking of a desktop environment for a couple of months now that uses Multitouch and is very uniform in the way it handles applications. The desktop environment would run on tables similar but smaller than the Microsoft surface tables. Projects to make DIY tables like these are quite advanced so making one shouldn’t be too difficult. The idea is that within the environment, all applications would have no buttons and be interfaceless (at least the main part of the applications) tools would be used by performing gestures.
Description
Desktop
The desktop is the place where all the application are held. It also acts as a file manager. The desktop starts with an applications icon a files icon and a root icon making the Ubuntu circle, plus all the drives (not including the hard drive) floating around it. It is important to note that the desktop is infinite and can be scaled with a scaling gesture with two fingers touching it. It can also be moved and rotated by using one or two fingers.
When you click one of the icons it will open up all the files and folder it contains by having them expand in circles around the icon pushing the other icons out of the way. Clicking on folders does the same thing. A file is a picture of the file in its last state. Clicking a file or one of the 3 icons will make it absorb all its files and folders again (allowing the icons pushed to go back to there places). To keep a file or folder out you keep one finger on it while pressing the folder/icon (the icon still belongs to that folder even though it is kept out so it will go back into the folder when you shut down the computer). To move a file/folder into a new folder you simply drag it on to it.
Files and folders can be dragged, rotated and rescaled in the same way as the desktop.
the App Folder
Inside the app folder there are blank files of each type of application on the computer. These can be organized into folders if wished.
the Root and Files Folder
The root icon leads to the root directory and files to the home directory.
the Main App Section
This is the part of the file that is shown as an image on the desktop. To activate and application from the picture found on the desktop you have to pin the picture. This prevents the application from moving so that its application specific gestures can be used on it and it converts the image it was up to this point into the actual application by loading the program then loading the file and placing it exactly the same place as the image was.
When pinned the gesture option panel is opened next to the main app section.
The main app section should contain no buttons unless it is an application that requires them such as a calculator app (which incidentally cant be saved so can only be opened by navigation through the app icon to its blank state picture).
An application closes, and returns to just being a picture representation of itself, not when it is unpinned but when it is unpinned and returned to the closed folder from which it came.
the Gesture Option Panel
The gesture option panel can be moved, rotated and scaled and carries the options for each tool currently assigned to each gesture. It is specific to each app currently pinned. It is similar in function to the option panel sported by all the macromedia applications. The options it contains can be collapsed to a vertical column and expanded to a horizontal header with text and text boxes underneath.
Gesture Assignment Options
These options control which tools are assigned to which gestures and how the gesture affects the tool. And example of this would a rescale tool assigned to a two-finger motion. The layout of this panel is similar to the gesture option panel.
To access this panel you have to make a two fingered flipping motion on the gesture option panel. This flips the panel revealing the gesture assignment options panel.
Application Options
The application options are laidout in the same style as the other options but affect all the options of the applications (but not its gestures).
To access this you must unpin the application and flip it in the same was as the gesture option panel.
Pinning
To pin an application you must tap twice with two fingers on the application. Doing the same gesture on a pinned app unpins it.
System Options
Flipping the desktop in the same way as everything else accesses the system options. These options are laid out in the same way as the other options but they have sub categories, as well, to expand.
Notification
Notification would be done with transparent symbols that appear around the boarder of the screen and can be click on to send you to a place in the options or open a blank application.
GTK compatibility
I wanted this desktop environment to be compatible with GTK so that programs don’t have to be rewritten.
Tools and App Options
The app options are the windows that can be opened from the file, edit … buttons at the top of an application (the ones that end with `…`). Tools are all the other things in file, edit… menus. The tools can be assigned to gestures using the gesture assignment options.
Gesture Option Panel
Here I am not sure what I could use from the GTK libraries to make these options.
Mock Up
I am going to make a video mock up but I want to know what applications people would like me to show in the mock up (e.g. Firefox, the Gimp). And secondly, what is the best application in Ubuntu to do this (I can always resort to flash).

I think your idea sounds interesting, and it would help alot with a small video, it is a little bit hard to grasp in my opinion.

[init1]

Here is my idea, featuring PClinux:

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/343/plosaor6.th.png (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plosaor6.png)
this shot shows a very basic desktop feel, a very thin taskbar panel at the top (sorta like Mac OSX in a way, but is wort of like windows as it has the taskbar applet in it)
and a applet bar at the bottom (also like OSX)
the top bar has a rounded start button similar to Vista
the close and lock buttons at the end of the top bar, with the typical weather app, clock and system monitor.
The applet bar has all the essentials, Konqueror, home, help, firefox, the X kill applet, , KDE's control center, synaptic and for us mandriva/ PCLOS users the mandriva control center

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/4396/plosa1ns4.th.png (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plosa1ns4.png)
Now this shot shows how I made my window decoration a little more unique.
I have a close button at the far right like where it would be in windows, a minimize button and the help button.
on the other side I put a shade button on the far left, the maximize button and the menu button

so mine is a fusion of sorts, a bit of this and a bit of that but a bit of everything...
I am Frankenstein!
That kinda reminds me of Symphony's Mezzo environment. Nice interface, crappy OS.
http://symphonyos.com/cms/

[smartboyathome]

It will be hard to break out of the windowed way of displaying an OS. I think the windowed way needs to head into the 3rd dimension. But we would also need a control device that works in 3 dimensions also. not a plain like the mouse. I personally would like to break out of windows and have the different pieces of the application you are using float around the screen. That way you can arrange them any way you like. like if your different tabs in firefox could move around on their own, possibly even to different workspaces. That would be great.

This is hard when you are working on a plane (your moniter). Try reading flatland, and convincing the people of the second dimension that the third dimension exists. ;)

Anyway, I think in order to get to an actual 3D desktop, we would have to make a model that projected your computer around you, and you would operate it in a similar way as a touch pad, but your hands would actually move the stuff around you. The technology we have would need to be developed further for this to happen, though.

[cmat]

I really doubt that you can make the desktop any more different from what it was in the 80's.

Like the usage a scroll bars, menus, and rectangular forms really are that the peak of human interaction with a computer visually.

What can help out in productivity is more monitor area. Compiz-fusion and aero really don't help in productivity for me at all. It's just eye candy, if I'm word processing and browsing the net what the heck do I need transparent windows for. What I would really need is something like the "recent documents" but with most commonly accessed files and folders.

[dlai]

I really doubt that you can make the desktop any more different from what it was in the 80's.

Like the usage a scroll bars, menus, and rectangular forms really are that the peak of human interaction with a computer visually.

What can help out in productivity is more monitor area. Compiz-fusion and aero really don't help in productivity for me at all. It's just eye candy, if I'm word processing and browsing the net what the heck do I need transparent windows for. What I would really need is something like the "recent documents" but with most commonly accessed files and folders.

Did you try Gimmie-bar it gives an interesting approach to this. http://www.beatniksoftware.com/gimmie/Main_Page

[oedipuss]

Very interesting thread ...
Here's my thoughts :

I believe the first and foremost thing that must be redesigned for the desktop to actually change is the input system.
Current desktops are much too dependent on the mouse ; maybe because the current scheme is the best for use with a single pointing device.
That multitouch video shows us just how far the desktop can change with the simple addition of more pointers and a way to control them intuitively.
However I don't think the ultimate solution, or to be more precise, the solution that users will eventually use, would be a multi-touch screen, nor use of both hands as pointers.
Perhaps some sort of large (A5 size) multi-touch pad, sitting beside the keyboard, would be more practical. I'm thinking something similar to current laptop touchpads, only with multi touch capabilities, or better yet with a system to track your fingers while hovering above it, without actually touching it (so that the 'click' or 'activate' action could be to touch the surface).

Given a new practical and cheap (relatively to a touch screen) input system, I believe the desktop would change by itself, over time, to fit the new input.

[bigbang]

i would like to create a mock-up of my ideas but i don't know what software i could use to make an animated mock-up. does anybody know of this kind of software? btw, i have tried synfig, but i cant import images and the gimp doesn't export video files.

[iconoclasm]

ion3, stumpwm, ratpoison, etc.

GUI's are turning computing into target practice. However, it's a metaphor that the keyboard-phobic are able to grasp. It won't disappear, but it's not the only or best interface paradigm.

As someone who wants his interface to be as fast an efficient as possible, I try to avoid the mouse at all costs. I want to avoid alt-tabbing or other such non-sense. Forget over-lapping windows or having to "look" for something, when I should be able to type a few things and have it pop up where I'm currently looking.

Lot of work goes into this area. I highly recommend ion3 myself, but if you're a lisp-fan, try stumpwm -- less symmetrical grid. :)

[bigbang]

I think one of the first steps towards a better GUI would be a more flexible GUI. gtk at the moment seems to allow next to no editing (correct me if I'm wrong). one of the first steps we should take is to allow the user to edit gtk -on the move- to his/her preference.

for example, the user should be allowed to move buttons into separate windows while the application is running; add keyboard short cuts; remove buttons; map buttons to pre-programmed multi-application floating/docked widgets (say a navigator widget that can be mapped to firefox or nautilus).

pre-programmed widgets such as these could increase the eye candy of applications. these widgets would have been worked on by a separate programmer that could have spent more time on the look of the widget than the program funcionality.

is there such a gtk hack? I know that there is the mac style bar hack which seems to do something similar.

what are peoples thoughts on the idea?:)

[bigbang]

This is exactly what is needed if you ask me: vis/vapourware (http://modeemi.fi/~tuomov/vis/)
Cant believe I've only just found this.

[wsm]

Ultra simplified interfaces:
Foxybuntu (http://blogs.gnome.org/view/nigeltao/2006/10/02/0)

Has anyone seen the specific configuration files for this scheme ?

[euchrid]

All of the discussion here seems to focus on 3D environments, headsets, gloves, touchscreens, etc. All fine in their own way, but what I desire and propose is something totally different:

What I want the desktop to turn into is a game. I don't need good graphics - Tetris is as much fun in a console only version as it is on a Playstation3. The first Grand Theft Auto had charm and personality without anything flashy graphics-wise. What I want is playability. It should be fun.

Imagine, you go into your e-mails. You're Lara Croft. You walk down the hallway, and open the door to the e-mail room (which is loading in the background, making the opening of the program no slower than it is currently). But no! There's spam! The spam look amazingly like zombies. You pull your guns out and blast them into oblivion. A couple you have to shoot twice. You check the corpses to make sure you didn't shoot any of your friends. Doesn't that beat the pants off adding your e-mails to the 'junk' folder?

Of course, this example is slightly frivolous, but it could be perfectly usable. You could have a shortcut key or dropdown 'Quake' type menu to hyper-jump to any room or location. You could use your Playstation control pad to move, or just the keyboard. You could be in Tomb Raider, or on a racetrack, or in Lord of the Rings, or just wander My Little Pony Land or Mario land - and you could still just write a letter, browse the internet or whatever.

Someone instant messages you and you don't walk to talk to them? Gun them down! Or trot away on your pony, or teleport them to a remote planet... Want to talk to them? Why not do it as Jay and Silent Bob in Disneyland?

The GUI/desktop environment basically handles all the boring bits - the getting from one place to another, running virus scans (not that you need them on Linux!), providing menus, administration and such. It basically provides a frame within which the 'painting' that is the program can be displayed or display its output. So all the programs that actually 'do stuff' could just work as they do. But, say, moving a window could be done with a vampire bat or the Millennium Falcon or whatever.

You get the idea? So, a potentially 3D environment would integrate with a 2D environment, and could be adjusted for older machines. The mouse could be done away with (I've used a graphics tablet for a couple of years and I much prefer it), and you could even use a joystick to fly around/shoot baddies/trot away on your pony.

What is the point of a GUI? To hide all the nasty, horrible code from the poor, innocent computer user? To make tasks easier (well, some of them)? A desktop that is a game would do everything a GUI does now - only more fun.

Too much in the way of resources? How much does Vista use? Or KDE for that matter? And, if this was a Linux/Open Source desktop, then it could come in many flavours. I think it could be made to run on older machines as easily as GNOME or KDE, at the very least. Now, can someone go out and code it? Please?

[tdrusk]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but...
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html

Windows has a pretty good idea here.

[euchrid]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but...
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html

Windows has a pretty good idea here.

I think this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY
sums it up pretty well.

At the end of the day, these gadgets are nice, but do they add anything in terms of functionality or usability? To me, that's just a monitor in an incredibly uncomfortable position, and what? you're going to have this coffee table in front of you, the TV in the corner or on the wall, the fridge telling you that you're out of fruit juice.... sounds like hell. Or maybe I'm just a Miserable Old Git.

By the way, at that link at popularmechanics.com, the video player says that "This player requires a faster connection to enable smooth playback of video. The connection speed detected will cause a potentially unviewable experience." What - 2mbps Broadband is too slow to view an embedded video? Technology is great, isn't it?

[boast]

that windows table does seem good for a casino, or to throw in the lobby of a hotel, but what a waste for home use- Unless i'm going to be turning the table to its side to watch videos.

[svtfmook]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but...
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html

Windows has a pretty good idea here.

ever seen the movie "the island"?

[koleoptero]

All of the discussion here seems to focus on 3D environments, headsets, gloves, touchscreens, etc. All fine in their own way, but what I desire and propose is something totally different:

What I want the desktop to turn into is a game. I don't need good graphics - Tetris is as much fun in a console only version as it is on a Playstation3. The first Grand Theft Auto had charm and personality without anything flashy graphics-wise. What I want is playability. It should be fun.

Imagine, you go into your e-mails. You're Lara Croft. You walk down the hallway, and open the door to the e-mail room (which is loading in the background, making the opening of the program no slower than it is currently). But no! There's spam! The spam look amazingly like zombies. You pull your guns out and blast them into oblivion. A couple you have to shoot twice. You check the corpses to make sure you didn't shoot any of your friends. Doesn't that beat the pants off adding your e-mails to the 'junk' folder?

Of course, this example is slightly frivolous, but it could be perfectly usable. You could have a shortcut key or dropdown 'Quake' type menu to hyper-jump to any room or location. You could use your Playstation control pad to move, or just the keyboard. You could be in Tomb Raider, or on a racetrack, or in Lord of the Rings, or just wander My Little Pony Land or Mario land - and you could still just write a letter, browse the internet or whatever.

Someone instant messages you and you don't walk to talk to them? Gun them down! Or trot away on your pony, or teleport them to a remote planet... Want to talk to them? Why not do it as Jay and Silent Bob in Disneyland?

The GUI/desktop environment basically handles all the boring bits - the getting from one place to another, running virus scans (not that you need them on Linux!), providing menus, administration and such. It basically provides a frame within which the 'painting' that is the program can be displayed or display its output. So all the programs that actually 'do stuff' could just work as they do. But, say, moving a window could be done with a vampire bat or the Millennium Falcon or whatever.

You get the idea? So, a potentially 3D environment would integrate with a 2D environment, and could be adjusted for older machines. The mouse could be done away with (I've used a graphics tablet for a couple of years and I much prefer it), and you could even use a joystick to fly around/shoot baddies/trot away on your pony.

What is the point of a GUI? To hide all the nasty, horrible code from the poor, innocent computer user? To make tasks easier (well, some of them)? A desktop that is a game would do everything a GUI does now - only more fun.

Too much in the way of resources? How much does Vista use? Or KDE for that matter? And, if this was a Linux/Open Source desktop, then it could come in many flavours. I think it could be made to run on older machines as easily as GNOME or KDE, at the very least. Now, can someone go out and code it? Please?

You wanna see a ridiculous approach to what you just described? See 3D Mailbox for windows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouR59Inxb8U Watch out for the fat spam :lol::lol::roll:

[applehead]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=627294

[euchrid]

You wanna see a ridiculous approach to what you just described? See 3D Mailbox for windows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouR59Inxb8U Watch out for the fat spam :lol::lol::roll:

Wow, that was awesome. That is one of the worst adverts I've ever seen. But they do have zombies (http://www.3dmailbox.com/snapshots/level03/index.html)...

Yeah, there is always the danger that people would make something as cheesy and pointless and gimmicky as '3D Mailbox'; I hope my idea didn't come across as wanting that sort of thing... It looks like all it does is just animate the commands that you're running anyway, and doesn't provide any sort of functionality, and less entertainment than just playing a game.

Thanks for that link - I haven't seen anything that funny on YouTube for ages!