True 3d in User Interfaces

The set top box is unifying with mobile devices in its CPU and GPU (graphics processing unit) capability. For example, Orly from STM will have an ARM9 core and Mali 400 GPU, the same combination found on many tablets and phones today.

So, predicting the future of interfaces for STBs is as easy as looking at some of these devices in action. Today we are used to the "point and swipe" interfaces of tablets but next generation interfaces for mobile devices (and in some cases for TV) are moving to true 3D with 3d objects, not just flat images, rotated about an axis.

True 3D user interfaces have been a hit and miss affair over the years. Infact the only successes I remember are the floating cube found on the Gamecube and a little known file system browser from SGI, called fsn, which was genuinely useful and had a moment of fame in the film Jurassic Park ("I know this , its a Unix system") and was later adapted to fsv under Mac OSX. Otherwise there have been countless failures.

fsv on MAC OSX

However, a number of YouTube videos show that the trend is changing so, I've gathered a few here for viewing. At each stage more the 3D is bettrer crafted than the last.



The Inflexion UI uses a carousel of true 3D and one of pseudo 3D. The effect is one of adding a bit of 3D to a more traditional interface.



The Optimus user interface makes very nice transitions from 2D into 3D objects, fully animated. Its sugar on what is essentially otherwise a normal carousel style user interface but its this sugar that makes the interface sweet - if you pardon the pun.



The FUSE UI is 3D most of the time. All items appear to be true 3D objects. Some freaky use of shaders for distorting the screen and lighting adds a wow factor and things spin off the screen after deslection or rotate in glorious 3D revealing they are solid objects. Yet the 3D objects are still in a 2D space, we dont fly anywhere or feel we are in a 3D world.



And strangely, buried in this tech demo for Mali 400, is our first example of a true 3D interface. Skip Quake and you will see not only are there 3D objects used in menu sections but the transition between menus flies us through a 3D space. We get a feel of being in a 3D world. The ball of light we used as our cursor gives a feeling of continuity in the environment. True 3D.