Apple bringing its operating system into living 3D?

If there's one problem with modern operating systems it's that they're all rather planar. Sure, OS X, Vista, and others have some 3D tricks up their sleeves, stacking windows and layering them on cubes and such, but when you get down to business everything's rather more Flatland than Lawnmower Man. Apple, at least, has a plan for changing that in its patent application titled "Multidimensional Desktop," unearthed by MacRumors, describing a way in which depth could be added to your typical virtual desktop. The patent covers dozens of scenarios, including geometric icons representing applications or documents being attached to the side surfaces, possibly replacing the rather tired "File, Edit, etc." menus at the top with positional hotspots on the right. Another example describes how light emanating from one 3D icon, a little sun representing the weather, could illuminate the other icons. It all sounds rather conceptual, but with the amount of detail included here (not to mention the familiar dock at the bottom) it's hard to label this is as just a flight of Cupertino creativity not intended for release.

[Via MacRumors]

[John Sullivan @ Dec 11th 2008 1:12PM]

THANK YOU! I was hoping someone would bring this up. (Actually, I was hoping to be the first, but screw it.) Whenever I see an interface that tries to mirror a 3D environment in 2D, I think of two options: Quake or MS Bob. Bob seems pretty useless to me, but if the multitouch gestures turn my desktop into a first-person shooter, THAT might be cool.

OSX v.10.9... Lion hunter!

[nicleT @ Dec 11th 2008 11:36AM]

Exactly!
And... good example.

[nicleT @ Dec 11th 2008 11:40AM]

Forget my previous comment, bad shortcut...

Anyway,

3D-Space VFS : http://marcmoini.com/f3_en.html

3DOSX : http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/macwarriors/projects/oldprojects/3dosx/screenshots.html

An oldie, 3D Finder : http://www.doctorgavin.com/Apple/finder.html

...

[nicleT @ Dec 11th 2008 11:43AM]

...

3D Operating System : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZcJOZC38iQ

And the worst IMO,

tactile3d : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM9DHN9KYpY

Etc, etc.

[nicleT @ Dec 11th 2008 11:46AM]

...

3D Operating System : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZcJOZC38iQ

and the worst,

tactile3d : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM9DHN9KYpY

Etc, etc.

[The Dude @ Dec 11th 2008 12:16PM]

It's a shame that things like this can actually be patented... :-(
Not that it's particularly useful...
What about applying for a patent for "Simulating real world things as 3d objects on screen to manipulate them?"

[Francois @ Dec 11th 2008 12:17PM]

Why does it use the menu bar from Tiger?

Must be an old patent or an old concept only patented now.

[Ian @ Dec 11th 2008 12:59PM]

apple needs to start getting back to basics and fixing their core services before they start tricking out their OS even more.

Leopard has been crashing on me frequently, I have mobileme engineers trying to the issues my account with no success, and their RAID drivers have been broken since Leopard's release, and all they can think about is is OS 10.7 Shoebox, the future if diorama computing, oh and what the latest nano colors will be.

Does anyone realize they are phasing out their current cinema displays (the last apple monitor good for any sort of print color accuracy and luminance) and replacing them all with the type of monitor that comes standard in the latest laptops, iMac's and the new 24" display. If anyone has used this who works in print (a component of apple's previous customer base) you'll know that these monitors are sure bright, but completely inaccurate.

in other words

:(

[ArtemisGoldfish @ Dec 11th 2008 1:05PM]

If apple can't get past 1 mouse button, how will they get past 2 dimensions?

[iKurt @ Dec 11th 2008 1:17PM]

Apple is the most innovative company in the world, no argument here ~

[dale1v @ Dec 11th 2008 1:37PM]

You need to go to Japan or something, it's located in the east of the REAL WORLD

[Decoy @ Dec 11th 2008 1:54PM]

You actually reach into the screen of your Macbook, and Steve Jobs hand finds yours, and he pulls you through, and you're there and so is Steve, both inside the Mac and standing on the dock, looking at each other.

[Tim S @ Dec 11th 2008 1:56PM]

Taaaaaaaake oooooooon meeeeeee ...
(Take on me)
Taaaaaaaake meeeeeee onnnnnnnn ...
(Take on me)
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'll beeeeeeee goooooone ...
(etc.)

[AJ @ Dec 11th 2008 3:03PM]

Maybe you use a VR headset like in Disclosure. Would prefer virtual Demi to Steve.

[trev @ Dec 11th 2008 3:20PM]

This is super fancy and all but before they steam ahead with this I hope they catch themselves on and bring back the option to cut and paste in finder - its the little things that count.

[skilletcooked @ Dec 11th 2008 3:56PM]

Why not just bring the computer into the real world? Already has 3d built in.

To be more specific, how about glasses/contacts/goggles that have a translucent overlay? Then, the webcam on the bridge of the nose can help you attach tags to things in the real world; your pal Steve would show up with his info and latest status hovering to the side. With bluetooth in the phone-like device that is powering this, you could get any info you didn't have that he wants you to, or that he has set to auto-send to friends.

Much more practical than a desktop cube.

[Decoy @ Dec 11th 2008 4:08PM]

The diagram looks like a whole lot of rectangles, a few hexagons and a couple of triangles have got together to watch a movie. Sadly someone didn't know how to set up the speaker system.

[Chris @ Dec 11th 2008 4:13PM]

Looks like you'd need a pretty big monitor to be able to use this without loosing space for the actual programs.

[marinus @ Dec 11th 2008 4:36PM]

So many possibilities here it's hard to react but if you like a clean desktop it doesn't matter if it's bumptop, 2D, 3D or smell-o-vision. It's just more gimmicks, eye candy to distract from the fact that the GUI stalled a decade or two ago.
OS support for stereoscopic software- now that'd be significant [especially on autostereoscopic displays]. Imagine running 3D creation apps like Cinema4D or Max in real 3D, not 2.5D!

[Mick @ Dec 11th 2008 7:26PM]

Im sure you could make existing products work in 3d.
http://gi.leica-geosystems.com/LGISub1x10x0.aspx is a product called TopoMouse for the geospatial industry. Does x, y, z.
It's usually used with a stereo display which is avail... http://reald-corporate.com/scientific/ probably has some.
Even the Kensington trackball could be made to do the same as the TopoMouse with the scroll ring thing.
http://us.kensington.com/html/2200.html

[Ian Whelan (JOIN BAND!) @ Dec 12th 2008 12:43AM]

Steve, 3D Desktops are a trap!
-Bill

[blackfeather @ Dec 13th 2008 11:04AM]

Hooray for the obscure Flatland reference! The great sphere knows all.

[Matarese @ Dec 15th 2008 11:45AM]

there was something like this at the TED conference last year. i looked really neat when put into a touchscreen format. go to the TED website and check it out, this was the same confrence that apple got its "zoom in fingers" for the iphone a couple years back

[Kelvin @ Dec 19th 2008 12:26AM]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think bumptop already does this.

http://bumptop.com/

[Jeff Hodges @ Dec 11th 2008 8:41AM]

It does and it's pretty awesome. (I'm in the beta)

[bogaty @ Dec 11th 2008 8:42AM]

Looks like Apple stole bumptop's idea!!!! I see big money in bumptop's future.

[Elora HRanma @ Dec 11th 2008 8:43AM]

And Metisse: http://insitu.lri.fr/metisse/
And Sun's Looking Glass: http://www.sun.com/software/looking_glass/

And simply having multiple desktops makes almost all that functionality redundant and confusing.
Apple is only adding eye-candy (external weather modifying illumination in my desktop? No, thanks) and its name. Of course, that will be more than enough for a lot of people.

By the way, I didn't know bumptop and it is quite cool. Its auto-sorting features is nice.

[Bryant @ Dec 11th 2008 9:00AM]

Microsoft tried this in numerous usability studies early on in Vista's planning stages.

It's safe to say that this is a bad idea until it can also be visualized in three dimensions by the human mind as well (i.e. holograms or a stereoscopic display)

[bondsbw @ Dec 11th 2008 9:17AM]

Bryant, I sort-of agree with you. The problem is that the actual human interface devices (mouse, screen) are only two dimensional. The way to make a good 3D interface for a screen/mouse is to take a 2D UI appear 3D, but still work in a 2D way. I think Apple's ideas here accomplish this, with the side bar, but I'm not convinced about things like the menu bar not being on the top of the screen where it is most effective.

[Lamp @ Dec 11th 2008 9:46AM]

even if apple completely ripped this off,
i dont think its possible to copywrite a dimension.

[Kelmon @ Dec 11th 2008 9:51AM]

@Elora HRanma

Thanks for the links - I remember seeing Sun's Project Looking Glass a while back and I didn't really see how 3D was going to help my work. I tend to think the same of Apple's proposal and therefore we really need to see this in action before we can see whether it is something worth getting excited about. I've tried 3D file systems in the past and, frankly, they just made everything more confusing.

[konshuss @ Dec 11th 2008 3:44PM]

will they be calling this Little Mac Planet?

[El Taco @ Dec 11th 2008 5:50PM]

Just watch - now Apple will ban Bumptop from being installed because it duplicates the features of OS X.

[Al @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:54AM]

Whats the point?
your monitor can only produce 2D imagery. A 3D desktop environment will produce visual clutter but make good use of your spatial memory, but your desktop changes all the time with new windows and other items on top so remebering where things are on your desktop would also be pointless.