3DWorkspaces

I really like the ideas of having a spherexp styled workspace, one more along the lines of a 3D-enviroment, instead of just clicking on the edge of the screen and go to the next. (ddew)

This idea is similar to the one presented in the 3D start menu section. I just took a look at the spherexp and 3DOSX screenshots, and i think those are some really exciting proof of concepts. I think 3D workspaces can be a viable partial replacement or even a complete replacement for the start menu concept. Although I'm not yet a GNU/Linux user, I've long thought the built-in virtual desktop is a really practical idea. Instead of going thru the start menu's programs folder (in my case, on Win2k) and browsing thru all my programs sorted alphabetically (it would probably be much nicer if I can sort by category), I can have one desktop for office related programs and work, another desktop for personal finances, another for games and entertainment, and perhaps another for software development. IMO, this greatly reduces the eye strain of finding my program from the huge list on the start menu. I know of a Linux virtual desktop program that attempts to use the face of a cube as a desktop. So to change to another desktop, you would rotate the cube. Of course, the implementation of the transition from one desktop to another is always open ideas.

Nonetheless, the idea here is that programs can be organized thru a virtual 3D space and perhaps will provide users a more familiar way of organizing programs and files on the computer. Lets take some ideas from our daily lives on how we usually organize ourselves. Granted, everyone will probably have their own "optimized" way of organizing things, one of the most basic and commonly used way of organizing ourselves is to put stuff in places we can remember. We put books on the bookshelf, and on the bookshelf itself, we might categorize the books and put references at the top, fictional readings in the middle, and magazines at the bottom. Once we organize it in a way that we are comfortable with, retrieving a commonly used book can almost become instinctive, and retrieving those less commonly used books is nothing more than remembering the general location of where the book would be placed at and the name of the book. We know where to go look for that beer or coke....hopefully in the fridge :). Finding our programs and files in the computer should be at least as easy as those routine daily tasks.

Perhaps we need a few default desktops. We could have a desktop that shows all the configuration programs like the control panel in Windows, and instead of displaying a window with a whole bunch of 2D icons, we could have 3D objects or 3D icons that represent them, whether sitting on the 3D desktop itself, or categorized within some other 3D objects that can represent the category. To get to the program (if done without too much hassle for the user), perhaps you could actually walk thru the "path" that leads to the program. Perhaps you would "walk" to a room/house/whatever that is labeled "Add/Remove Software" and then select a software from a shelf and throw it into the shredder machine. A 3D object can contain more physical or visual differences in which we can distiguish and remember them with, and thus, might help with the whole process of finding the right program to launch.

We could then have a few "template" desktops premade for the user. Like "office", "play room", "family room", where the users can add their own programs in each desktop. It would also be nice if the installation program will prompt for which desktop to install the program to. (billksun)

I was hoping to see a desktop based on a map of sorts. One where you park your applications near a building thats related to the app. A financial app near a bank, a wordprocessor near a library, a legal document at a courthouse, etc. Rather than a static background image, have a real 3D city you can "drive" through and park your apps. You should of course ba able to label any building as a preference. Perhaps even have many cities that are real in layout as far as buildings and have the ability to create buildings on your personal map.

I agree with the above map idea with some future integration in mind. Has Project Wonderland been thought as a potential use for a "background" in this? If it was integrated, my thoughts for it's set up is a local 3D virtual space(s) in which I could place my 3D apps anywhere. But I could then travel to online spaces or peer-to-peer to a friends computer and connect to their virtual space. So merging 3D desktops with online virtual spaces. At this point, I think more development is needed from Wonderland, but the concept lends itself to integrate. I see two layers: 1) my lookingglass desktop holds My apps and vSpaces and 2) the online world holds it's own apps and spaces. They are merged to create a platform where the metaverse/3d internet makes more sense. I don't want to have to log into some heavy client app to see a friend or co-working in a 3D virtual environment, I want to meet IN my desktop environment where I'm doing everything else. (BenIM^?)

How about starting off something simple by augmenting the workspaces functionality of gnome/kde? For example, I usually have 6 workspaces defined for certain apps. i.e. 1 for email/IM, 1 for browsing, and so on. Unfortunately, I still find that I clutter all the workspaces with open terminals, apps that dont belong in the proper place, etc. Even though I can see mini white rectangles that roughly define the shape of the windows in the workspaces selector, I don't know what they are, resulting in me to guess and click on the workspaces randomly. What would be nice is if I had all the 6 mini workspaces show up at the same time showing the actual contents in a zoomed out state (maybe trigger this function using the spacebar?) and find the window that I am interested in. I take it that this would be easier to implement in 3d because zooming out requires you to move just the camera on the z-axis. (dc_007)