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BumpTop 3D Desktop Environment Acquired by Google

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Apr 12, 2001
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This weekend BumpTop announced that they had been acquired by Google.
More than three years ago, we set out to completely change the way people use their desktops. We're very grateful for all your support over that time — not just financially but also through all the encouraging messages from people who found BumpTop inspiring, useful, and just downright fun.

Today, we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google!
Click to expand...
This puts an end to their Windows and Mac product which was offered as a free download with paid upgrade. We had previously covered the Mac release when it was launched in January.

BumpTop is physics-based 3D desktop environment which allows users new features for organizing their desktops. BumpTop offers users multiple surfaces on which to store files, allowing users to alter the sizes of individual items and take advantage of several organizational features such as piles. BumpTop also supports Multi-Touch gestures in Windows 7 to manipulate files. See this video showing off its features:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jhoWsHwU7w The company is still offering the free version to download for the next week. It's not known what plans Google has for the technology.

Apple has also been researching 3d desktop environments with some similar features to BumpTop. Apple has also been heavily investing in multi-touch technologies that are found in the iPhone and iPad.

Article Link: BumpTop 3D Desktop Environment Acquired by Google
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/03/bumptop-3d-desktop-environment-acquired-by-google/
I believe this justifies my claims that Google's corporate swimming pool is still full of $100 bills.
 
Tried it out after reading this on neowin.

Not for me. It's got a number of good ideas, except it isn't polished, and not very configurable. And you can't get rid of popup/'stacks' easily.
 
sammich said:
Tried it out after reading this on neowin.

Not for me. It's got a number of good ideas, except it isn't polished, and not very configurable. And you can get rid of popup/'stacks' easily.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess that's where Google comes in. They defiantly have the money and developers to make something great out of it.
 
Looks nifty but as I watched more and more of the video I noticed that the multi-touch gestures and OS kept getting more complicated and cumbersome.
 
That's not really 3D, it's still on a 2D display. Combine this with a glasses-free 3D display and it may get interesting.

A small graphical depth-of-field is all that's needed to really make buttons pop, icons stand out, or to separate desktop layers (ie floating app windows you can peer behind, floating Dock and/or Dashboard widgets). I want to see Google Earth terrain on a glasses-free 3D display.

I think the forthcoming Nintendo 3D DS is going to show a lot of people how compelling 3D graphics can be...
 
I'd be happy too

"Today, we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google!"

What they're really saying…

"I'm rich b*tch!" :D
 
Roger Ebert's comments regarding 3D movies also apply to graphical user interfaces.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/237110/page/1

It's allright to create a 3D feel to a 2D environment with shading and some layers etc (Win 7, OS X). However to create a faux 3D environment akin to looking into a 2D box (see Bumptop) doesn't do anything for usability.

It's fugly and looks and feels like a gimmick.
 
This is the sort of thing that makes people play around with it for a couple of hours, then realize it's more cumbersome than the original desktop format. Problem with these kinds of 3D desktop is they do not improve usability of any kind. In other words, utter rubbish.

Unless they do some serious research in improving the usability of these 3D Desktop Environments, otherwise they will never be implemented and integrated to the future OS releases.
 
Jonnyfive said:
It's just fluff
Click to expand...

Agree, interactive, semi-3D and full-3D work environments like this were shown at different Virtual Reality conferences in the 90s. Shows like SigGraph (now a Hollywood CGI show), VRASP (last I heard is now defunct) and others demoed interactions like this with goggles, multiple projection walls, gloves, multi-mouse or flying-mouse interfaces a good while ago.

If they are trying to patent any of this, they got to deal with a bunch of 90's era VR start-up, PARC and Media Lab prior art when the old SGI Reality Engine was the realtime rendering engine of choice.

I can see this as an alternative desktop on a tablet computer but the staying power of it is not much and IMO could come and go like a fad.

Either way, I hope these guys cashed out well!
 
I first found this program when I was searching for an easy method to have multiple desktop background pictures at once (I originally thought of maybe a tiled interface that took multiple photos from an iPhoto library and automatically made it, like a smart playlist/album). But it made my mac way too slow. I get that it needs a lot of ram, not as much of a complaint, but after a while I just quit it to run things faster.

If google can make it less resource heavy, it would be a godsend.
 
I tried it awhile ago, and I can't say it was worth it. Maybe it just doesn't fit my workflow, but it felt more annoying to navigate over a regular 2D desktop.

I can see how the thought process is useful though. I mean it would be nice if Spaces gained multiple desktops, and OS X gained the ability for smart upload boxes...

The multitouch aspects aren't really the core of this app.
 
Seems like fun to try out, but no more than that. I can't imagine getting some work done with this software, seems like the bling gets in the way of instead of improving productivity.
 
While not being overly impressed with the video it is fairly easy to see the potential here...

Google won't be using it for desktop - but for upcoming tablet device(s) instead.

:)
 
Okay, Google, now you have me at a loss. I have no idea how this is gonna be useful.
 
Whoa... how does it work...:confused: and even if it does work well, does it only applies to touchscreen computers? Google made me :confused: again :/
 
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