Apple Exploring 3D Desktop and Application Interfaces

MacRumors · Dec 11, 2008

Dozens of Apple patent applications were published today revealing research that Apple had done in 2007 on many topics encompassing future versions of Mac OS X. The most intriguing is a series of patent applications which describe a "Multidimensional" user interface. Apple has essentially been working on true 3D desktop environments.

Disclosed herein are systems, aparatus and methods, including a multidimensional desktop graphical user interface.

In one titled Multidimensional Desktop, Apple includes a number of diagrams depicting what such a desktop might look like and how it would work.

This figure shows a multidimensional desktop environment alongside what Apple describes as a multidimensional application environment. Along the side are a number of three-dimensional "function" icons that may trigger certain commands on each surface. These icons can be manipulated in 3D with a physics model so the icons can appropriately "fall" if displaced.

This figure shows that windows could be dragged or displaced across multiple surfaces. Each surface could have its own characteristics and cause icons or windows to display different information:

For example, on the bottom surface, icons and other system object representations can be displayed according to a large scale; on the side surface, icons and system object representations can be displayed according to small scale; on the back surface, icons and other system object representations can be displayed in a list format

It's not clear when and if Apple will decide to implement these design ideas into a future version of Mac OS X. Apple's next major version of Mac OS X (10.6) is due in the first quarter of 2009 and will primarily focus on "under the hood" changes to boost performance. Apple has not been the only one working on 3D desktops. One popular YouTube video demos a 3D desktop in action. Sun's Project Looking Glass also demonstrates a currently functional 3D desktop for linux and Solaris x86.

Article Link: Apple Exploring 3D Desktop and Application Interfaces

majidf · Dec 11, 2008

Looks nice, it should be named "The Box"/Box and not iBox as it looks as if you are looking inside a box. Lets see if there is any suitable words for a possible "BOX" acronym.

luminol74 · Dec 11, 2008

Cool idea but I can't imagine terribly practical...

xak1101 · Dec 11, 2008

Bumptop

A windows program called "Bumptop" was recently released as a closed beta on windows
they are developing it for mac, but not out yet
I got it and it works pretty well, youtube it

Ropie · Dec 11, 2008

So is this earlier than initial concepts by BumpTop?
I quite like the look of it and the standard Leopard dock makes a bit more sense in the light of this.

stormdrums · Dec 11, 2008

majidf said:
Looks nice, it should be named "The Box"/Box and not iBox as it looks as if you are looking inside a box. Lets see if there is any suitable words for a possible "BOX" acronym.

it should be called MacBox Pro

talkingfuture · Dec 11, 2008

Looks cool, it could be the next stage after the 3d dock.

sukanas · Dec 11, 2008

it looks like its one of those things that look really cool but is really inefficient and unecessary

Saladinos · Dec 11, 2008

At first I didn't like this news - I like the OSX desktop as it is.

However, the idea of contextual surfaces is quite interesting. I warmed to it a little after reading that. Still not really convinced.

Ropie · Dec 11, 2008

sukanas said:
it looks like its one of those things that look really cool but is really inefficient and unecessary

On a flat screen, yes - it's all just more simulation. However, imagine it in a 3D holographic environment where your screen is all around you..

Teddy's · Dec 11, 2008

I guess it will be more like Steve Mob's giant underwater super computer. I guess we will hear more rumors in the next years.

btw, OSX... I say O S TEN

qubex · Dec 11, 2008

This looks totally unusable.

Unless you argue for a truly immersive 3D environment with goggles and whatnot, in which case it isn't only the desktop metaphor that becomes unusable, but the whole computer system.

VR failed not only as a technology, but as a concept. Why people keep barking up that tree is beyond me.

Flat screen, flat images. Even our vision isn't really 3D, we can only distinguish depth based on horizontal distance... because our eyes are only offset horizontally.

Blah.

*Cue clueless fanboys advocating 3D iPhones that beam 3D environments right into your eyeballs using some exotic laser technology, and all that kind of absurd hypothesising.*

joshysquashy · Dec 11, 2008

I'm not against changing things. Change is good, and constantly trying to improve or evolve designs is a great thing, and something apple is famous for.

I don't think a psudo 3d environment is a great idea. This isn't really three dimensional, as we are still using 2d displays. So displaying 2d information that has been skewed to represent a 3d plane, seems counter productive. All you are doing is making that information less legible and less useful.

A real 3d environment, however, has great potential. Productivity could be increased by working with layers in a real 3d space, or perhaps working with a whole landscape.

Just a thought, but if 3d can prove to increase productivity, what about 4d? Perhaps in the future we will be working in poly-dimensional space, inconceivable to us at the moment, but surely very usefull!

Santabean2000 · Dec 11, 2008

sukanas said:
it looks like its one of those things that look really cool but is really inefficient and unecessary

Come on people, have some vision!

Think about the other avenues/patents Apple has pursued, 3D goggles, gestures...

For sure this is the way forward

macFanDave · Dec 11, 2008

Er, I hate to say it. . .

but that looks like Microsoft Bob!

Lepton · Dec 11, 2008

This seems very usable to me. Think about the current implementation of Apple Spaces. But here, each inside surface of the 3D cube is a space. You'd be able to rotate the box with arrow commands to bring one of the side surfaces to the front, uh, I mean back. Moving a window to a side surface is just like moving it among spaces now, except you don't have to go into the "see all spaces on the screen mode" first. And you have a few more views. The icon view, when on a side surface, causes the isons to stand up like on a dock. Finder windows stick to the surfaces of the cube, while app windows float in the middle.

This all works for me. It does seem practical, and as usual for Apple, is not just eye candy but serves the useful purpose of having more info on screen while keeping it better organized, simple and intuitive. Let me at it!

tom. · Dec 11, 2008

I can't imagine it with todays peripherals, interesting for the future though.

People who are saying it's pointless etc are speaking a bit too soon considering this is consceptual and you have no idea how they would intend to implement it.

Someday things will change, who knows, this might be it!

talkingfuture · Dec 11, 2008

A lot of people think this would be inefficient to use but I reckon that IF Apple implemented something like this they will make sure it works. They tend to patent all their ideas so this may just be one of many ideas for the next gen of GUI.

blimeyoriley · Dec 11, 2008

thts pretty kl , tho im guessing this was before they invented spaces

drichards · Dec 11, 2008

macFanDave said:
but that looks like Microsoft Bob!

Bob was great. Best MS software to date, hands down.

Will_reed · Dec 11, 2008

The problem with the idea of the 3d desktop is it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, even when you are working on a real desk you aren't working like this.

Most ideas that people come up with make is seem more like you're working out of a box then on an actual desk. This Bumptop thing is pretty crappy looking too, most of the videos are just people throwing the little icons around I mean honestly how many people out there had a box for a desk and organized by throwing your crap around in a mess and occasionally stacking them up in a pile, If you ever saw someone working this way you'd think they'd have lost their mind.

velocityg4 · Dec 11, 2008

Maybe if the used a real 3D display I would be interested.

Or at least one that tricks your eyes like the Stereographic Laser in the Time Traveler arcade game. That game was awesome but very few arcades could afford it. I only remember it at Disney land and it was over $1 per game

, unheard of at that time. I assume even Packman is a dollar since I have not been to an arcade in years.

edit: They should use the above cabinet design and size too

. I'd want an iBulk.

dontwalkhand · Dec 11, 2008

A dream come true, a Minority Report style computer, but running Mac OS!

. Forget about those Windows running Minority Report computers! :apple:

qubex · Dec 11, 2008

dontwalkhand said:
A dream come true, a Minority Report style computer, but running Mac OS! . Forget about those Windows running Minority Report computers!

Much as I recall Minority Report, the computer system in question screwed up in a distinctly Microsoft-style that I doubt Apple would want to be even fictionally associated with.

phelix_da_kat · Dec 11, 2008

Would marry well with a touch interface

I like the idea of a 3D GUI, but I think this would be better implemented with say a touch interface.. I know corps blanket the patent office so this may sit around for a while.. but say in future touch screen iMacs or laptops/tablets..

Apple Exploring 3D Desktop and Application Interfaces

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