I was actually pretty heavily in VRML years ago - this isn't all that much different (but much more capable).
3D for the sake of 3D is almost never a good idea. However there are a lot of places where it has the potential to improve the user experience. It just has to take the basic 20 years-old rules of usability into account as it does it. ;^) An animation that looks cool, but makes so that your mail takes longer to open isn't more usable. I've seen some interesting things with "full 3d" file explorers and such. Folders are "cityscapes" with the building different sizes to reflect their size, different heights to reflect their usage and different colors textures to reflect their types. That can be more usable since the technique has placed three pieces of information in the same "space". Furthermore the files are reactive. Protected System files grow "thorns" when you come near them for example. These file "building" can sprout external doors or windows to indicate how many people are using them. You can also quickly gauge how fast a file (like a video capture) is growing and how much space you have left. I'm not sure if any of that'll end up being faster, but at least some idea of usability is going into it. A simpler example might be the 2.5d graphics (layering) current used for windows management. When you've got a 3D subsystem at the core of things you can gain some simplistic things for desktop management. Windows could cast shadows on lower windows giving the user a visual sense of the "alt-tab distance". A control could be used to "fly over" the desktop and see the windows from the top (allowing you to see how many windows there and where they are and sort them. Could also see some programs allowing the programs beneath them to leave a subtle outlined watermark on the upper program (like a piece of paper lying on a business card). I'm not sure if this would help any, but it's an idea to try. A lot of ideas in this arena will be windowing management. For new users this is still one of the most confusing aspect of modern OSs - they don't get the idea of "multiple windows" and tend to think completely in terms of single running programs. There's been a lot of movement on this in 2D already. The "minimize animation" in Windows 95 was a big win in this area. After that I started hearing my mother-in-law and grandfather saying "so I'll put this away for a minute". They got, intuitively, that they were storing this program instance someplace for later use. It's that kind of thing: complex concepts made intuitive and instantly understandable that I hope 3D can help with. But, at first I think that you're right: we're going to be seeing a lot of flying, flapping emails. ;^) Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:141580 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
