Monday, December 3, 2007

More Realistic GUIs (Graphical user Interfaces)

When thinking about futuristic realistic GUIs (Graphical user Interfaces) for our computers there are few things that come to mind. The first is obviously 3D GUI such as Second Life.

The more futuristic version of that format is the Virtual reality 3D GUI where the user wares motion gloves and 3D goggles that enable manipulation of virtual objects in a 3D virtual reality environment. All those are nice but will take time to get to our day to day life.

It seems that multi-touch user interfaces are now getting more popular since the release of the iPhone, and obviously they did not start there as many Mac People may think, they are nicely visualized in the movie Minority Report (Tom Cruise).

Recently we saw the Microsoft version of that multi-touch display in the form of the Surface computer, that not only gives you ability to manipulate objects on the screen in a more realistic graphics fashion but also added a nice component which is the ability to interact with real world physical objects such as your Cell phone, Zoon or digital camera. The surface computing will probably take time to mature just because of the expensive hardware it requires.

The latest GUI I saw, which drew my attention, was potentially the simplest solution so far to creating realistic GUI for organizing your desktop. I am sure some of you remember that from your own childhood, but I was asking my mother not to move anything on your desk as I remember at which layer every notebook is. Well it took few years but now it is becoming a reality with the Bump Top GUI. The Bump Top I predict at some form will become popular as it really has the ability to be implemented on any existing computer, activated with a simple mouse or a pen and tablet computer. Check out the Bump Top 3D Desktop Prototype
www.bumptop.com.

Bump Top is a fresh and engaging new way to interact with your computer desktop. You can pile and toss documents like on a real desk. Break free from the rigid and mechanical style of standard point-and-click desktops. Interact by pushing, pulling and piling documents with elegant, self revealing gestures. Bump Top’s stunning interface makes clever use of 3D presentation and smooth physics-based animations for an engaging, vivid user experience.

A
video of the Bump Top interface was or maybe still is the most watched video of software on YouTube, ever.

Watch a demo of the Bump Top GUI. Enjoy