Thanks, this is really good discussion.
Let's compare. Let's say I want to open an application - say the game Mines. In the current Fedora system, I would click on Activities, Applications, presumably Games, and then Mines. Before we go into how it would work in the new system, let's talk about the stress factors in play.
One large stress factor in using computers is finding an item in a list. Specifically, it is stressful to find an item in a large ordered list, even more stressful to find an item in a large unordered list, and most stressful to find an item in a large unordered list that keeps changing. It isn't stressful to find an item in a small list (roughly 5 or less items). The larger the list the more the stress. An example of course of an ordered list is the files in the documents folder. An example of an unordered list is the listing of menu items in the edit menu. An example of an unordered list that keeps changing is the order of the tabs of open firefox tabs. It is in "created" order, so when you shut down firefox completely and start reopening tabs, their order is now different.
Now, in the 3Dos. Assuming this is the first time you want to play Mines, you would build a wall to put Mines on. Here you are saying "When I want to play Mines, I will go to this room (presumably the game room) and look at this wall." Then you would select the application in a very similar fashion to how you select it today. Fedora did a very good job being "spacial". Humans are naturally spacial and enjoy it when things are in the same place the found it the last time. When you click on activities, a small relaxing list shows up. "Windows" and "Applications" could be considered another small relaxing list. The list of applications available to choose from them is large and changes order based on what applications are available but the filters on the right give you the ability to make it a small list, but that list of filters is also a larger ordered list, but when you have that many applications you really don't have an alternative and the way Fedora is doing it now doesn't need changing in my opinion. So you would select the application and it would open up on that wall.
Note, of course if the user thinks that they are not going to play Mines that often, there is nothing stopping them from not creating a wall and just using the Fedora user interface that they have been accustomed to. The Activities menu option would still be there and nothing prevents them from accessing it if they enjoy that better.
Ok so now let's say that our user enjoys Mines and wants to make a shortcut for it. In the current system they can put it on the top and make it so that in one click they are playing Mines. It is spacial because the shortcut is always in the same place. In the 3D system, in order to make it fast, there is the teleport tool. Using the teleport tool you would teleport yourself to whatever room / wall you chose. The teleport tool would be accessed either by clicking in a list or hotkey and then again by clicking in a list or hotkey they would teleport themselves to where they want to go.
Ok, you must be thinking, the current Fedora has this new 3D operating system beat by a long shot. One click is better than two, and the teleport tool takes two lists. Furthermore, if you have a teleport tool, why have a 3D os? Isn't the teleport tool just a glorified Alt-Tab?
The usefulness doesn't come until you have lots of shortcuts and lots of windows.
Imagine Firefox now. Currently, a user can choose 1 favorite to pop up when they open Firefox. What if someone has three favorites? Let's say they enjoy going to Email, Facebook, and Stocks. In 3D, they can put each of these windows on a wall in a room and have that room be the "Favorite websites" room. Each website is always on the same wall in the room. So the user knows that if they are looking at email, for example, then all they have to do is turn left and they are at facebook, and turn right and they are in Stocks, and it is that way every single time - because that is how they set up their room. Now let's say they want to surf the web. Perhaps they teleport into a "Surf the web" room they create so that they can open a bunch of windows in no particular order. Yet, as they are surfing the web, if they want to go back to their email, two hotkeys bring them there - teleport, email. Then it is turn left or right to get to facebook or stocks. Currently when people surf the web, if they have 10 open windows and 3 of them are their email, stocks and facebook, every time they want to switch tabs they have to look through an unordered changing list.
Now let's say that you have 15 favorite apps and want to put all those shortcuts somewhere. The user just created a big list for themselves. And ate up screen real estate. The ability to order those 15 apps in 3D space in several rooms is beautiful, especially when there are similarities between the apps. One could put Blender, Gimp and gThumb in one room. One could put PDF reader, and two Word Processors in one room. Whatever was convenient for the person. The speed increase comes when the brain can tell the hand how to switch apps without thinking because everything is spacially right where they left them.
The walls aren't so much different applications as they are different frequently used windows.
Again, someone is working on a project. They create a room and have all the necessary windows for that project open in that room. They shut down the computer, come back the next day, teleport to that room and everything is ordered just like they left it.
And if someone wants to take a tutorial while learning Gimp, they could create a "learning room" where one wall is Firefox and one is Gimp.
Wow okay I'm talking a lot. Thoughts?
Thanks,
Matt
On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 12:56 AM, Nicu Buculei <nicu_fedora@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 10/17/2012 04:35 AM, Matt Whittle wrote:That's the top failure: if I want to start Firefox, I want it *now*, with a click of the mouse, not walk from room to room and wait.
If the idea makes organization of windows easier and navigation more
pleasant and it increases productivity, the chance of failure will be
less. While providing lots of eye candy, the goal of this is to create
a spacial user interface. Since humans naturally are spacial
(remembering where things are in 3D space) and sorted lists are a little
less natural, designing your own house and walking into the GIMP room is
more relaxing on the brain then hunting for GIMP in a sorted list. And
then if you need to switch from GIMP to Firefox, you just walk out of
the GIMP room into the firefox room - which is also less taxing on the
brain then locating the firefox window you were on before in the list of
open windows in one of your workspaces. Also, if it is delivered in
small chunks and each chunk provides something cool, then even if it
eventually fails, a lot of progress is made that you can keep. What I
mean is, after creating a 3D background we decide against it, well then
at least we got a 3D background out of it.
Also, what if I need both GIMP and Firefox at the same time? say I read a GIMP tutorial and want to try it, or I design a web layout and have to edit and see the page at the same time. I am forced to wander around rooms?
An OS (well, a desktop system, which is what we are talking about) should be unobtrusive and let the uses get the job done fast and easy.
--
nicu :: http://nicubunu.ro :: http://nicubunu.blogspot.com/
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