Why things don't always get better
Improvements come in spurts, not in a straight line. Why? Well, here's an example of wait time: Scoble is off about the Tablet again:
Tim's "senior person without a soapbox" was complaining about not seeing any improvements to notebooks in 14 years. Hmm, ever see a Tablet PC? You can't use your notebook while standing up, but I can. That's a huge improvement in UI.
Hmm - I can count the number of times I've wanted to use a computer while standing - it's a small number. And no, airport security lines don't count. Why? Well, you imagine holding a tablet PC, a shoulder bag with your clothing, and the computer bag - and then figure out just how comfortable you'll be with a Tablet taking up both hands. Now add a child to watch, or a wife you should be talking to... this isn't a use case, it's a non-use case. I've yet to see anyone doing this at an airport, and I travel a fair bit. So far as I'm concerned, the Tablet really isn't a big deal - No one I know wants to write with a pen.
Now, the question is, are we about to see a 3D user interface revolution? Sun has been showing around its cool LookingGlass user interface. Microsoft has a bunch of 3D stuff in the lab.
Yeah, and I've been pointing to Croquet as well. We were talking about this on the IRC channel the other day - outside the games space, just how useful would a 3D user interface be? At least Scoble is properly skeptical about this one (follow the link to his site).
Comments
[] July 5, 2004 13:14:58.111
I'm a 3D skeptic too. Adding a dimension generally adds an obstacle to be overcome. Just ask an old person with bad joints how they feel about buildings with lots of stairs. ;^)
I kinda like the *limited* use of 3D in the new iChat that Apple's putting in the 'Tiger' version of OS X. It's used when you're video chatting with multiple people in the same conversation.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/ichat.html
I want to use a pen
[bryan] July 5, 2004 16:15:40.833
I want it to have the feel of a smooth pen on paper as well, and to have handwriting recognition good enough that my writing can be turned into Times new roman or whatever.
The benefits of 3D
[Julian Gall] July 6, 2004 3:32:21.379
Like many people, I'm rather sceptical about 3D. But I do remember lots of people being sceptical about the benefits of color displays too, when they came out. I can remember, when I'd only ever created programs to run in "batch" or on 80x40 green on black displays, wondering what use color could possibly be. Why would I want to display my output in red or blue?
It depends on the application
[Sanjay Pande] July 6, 2004 4:30:30.116
There are areas where a 3D application can be extremely useful. I think something like croquet is great and shows inspired thinking by people who are not doomed to convention like the rest of us. I have played a little with croquet and think there are many possible apps in the 3D space. It can change the way we interact online as well. Some useful apps would be security related maybe. Or how about the front desk of a company searching for a person's location in a 3 dimensional space, design related apps, Data Warehouse related apps where 3 dimensional representation may make a difference in understanding things etc. There are always skeptics, but the creators do not care about that do they?
[Vassili Bykov] July 6, 2004 11:49:26.444
I was in that IRC discussion and blogged about it.
[] July 6, 2004 13:39:12.652
"Or how about the front desk of a company searching for a person's location in a 3 dimensional space,"
How would that be an improvement?
If they have some kind of smartcard, why not just say "she's in Room 305-B"?
If not then a series of security camera snapshots would be more efficient.
Using 3D really wouldn't buy you much of an advantage over searching *on foot*. You'd still have to navigate the space, possibly a long process, as if you were playing Quake. You just wouldn't have to physically walk it.
Re: Why things don't always get better
[ Denis Johnson] July 8, 2004 19:13:41.290
Comment on Why things don't always get better by Denis Johnson
I think we will discover some good uses for 3D, but our imaginations are currently restricted by what we have experienced so far. No doubt it will take time and no doubt any initial implementations of 3D interfaces will be overused and in many cases inhibit actual usability as some have eluded to here. I think the actual user interface beyond the keyboard and mouse may also need evolve before some gains are realized.
As for navigating large 3D spaces like offices or grounds like campuses or the like, I tend to agree with others here that pre-navigating the space in a simulation will not help much and instead some smart card based or PDA based GPS style navigation my be far more suitable.
Outside the games space, just how useful would a 3D user interface be?
[Socinian] July 10, 2004 3:58:37.554
My answer to the question is in my diary on SqueakPeople:
http://people.squeakfoundation.org/person/Socinian/
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