<i>>It seems that the only way to build an app that replicates the full functionality a deck of cards is to build a 3D simulation or game. Model the cards in 3D and put them on a 3D table. As long as you have controls for reaching out and picking up the cards, and moving them in space, you can do anything you can do in real life.</i><p>Unless you also want to enable castle building, no, I think a 3D interface would only add unnecessary complexity and cognitive burden. A 2D UI on desktop with keys for moving, flipping, looking at cards, and stacking, splitting, shuffling decks seems feasible.<p>On the other hand, if you spend time surveying the state-of-the-art in 3D input and real-time 3D physics engine, it will be clear how far away a functional deck of card simulation is. We simply don't have the tech now, and won't for the next 10 years.<p>3D games work because their focus is extremely limited (racing, shooting games), and/or low resolution (minecraft). As soon as you try to emulate the real world, you get things like Surgeon Simulator[1], where the awkwardness of the medium becomes fun in and of itself, albeit extremely unproductive.<p>[1] <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/518920/Surgeon_Simulator_Experience_Reality/" rel="nofollow">https://store.steampowered.com/app/518920/Surgeon_Simulator_...</a>
we're working on a 3d avatar-based communication platform at mozilla called Hubs (hubs.mozilla.com) that is predicated on the idea that shared spatial awareness and use of media in a shared space will be a common utility in the future, especially in VR + AR.
Oi. I’m guessing the author is young and doesn’t know that much work was put into spatial UI in the 80s/90s and flopped for good reason: we might live in a 3D world, but that doesn’t mean computers should emulate that... the world doesn’t change dynamically in front of me like with a computer. Turns out that computers are hard and complicated, and simplifying their interaction works best.<p>That and most of these problems can be solved in other, better ways... for the actual parts that are worth answering (no one is asking who is everyone meeting with now, and tiny avatars don’t answer that any better than a simple list).
> <i>I could place my personal site on a street near the websites of my friends. We could form a little village.</i><p>Wasn’t this the thought behind the addressing of pages on GeoCities?
Skeuomorphism can be horrible. Just give a glance at what Microsoft attempted a couple of years ago <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5teG6ou8mWU" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5teG6ou8mWU</a><p>Why should we have to emulate real world interactions, the whole idea of computing is to make tasks easier, less of a cognitive burden, not replicate them in a virtual world. Sure there are specific kinds of software that are in need of a more humane approach but I'm not sure skeuomorphism is the answer.
The Sococo example is bang on. I used it for a contract way back and the spatial interface is extremely useful. Teams colocate virtually, dedicated meeting rooms, etc.<p>The problem is the software is _so bad_. Someone like Zoom needs to buy this and fix the software.
I was going to comment about an older link that came up about skeuomorphic interfaces in Apple's apps, but I didn't want to look it up. Now, I just ran into a video with multiple layers of it within the first 23 seconds that I've watched it. So, I switched tabs back over here:<p>Caravan to Midnight interview on John & Yoko<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJBwsaRmNgQ" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJBwsaRmNgQ</a><p>I remember now thinking about it when talking to a friend about why he doesn't like electric cars. The acceleration lacks the intensity, mostly sonically as we discussed. And I said we could skeuomorphicly add it back in.
Can a "spatial interface" make something 10x (not just incrementally) better? Are there spatial interfaces only possible in VR/AR that meet this threshold?
Thx very much!!
You just puts words on my theorical researches upon making new kind of interaction in our constraint SaaS admin world (from now on Bootcamp CSS like UX is the believed limit).<p>From my point on view, using classical old school RPG-game type interface will be one of the possible next move ;)
I don’t think computers will be a good place for digital spatial interaction until there is a tactile element. Haptic holograms seem promising, or some kind of nano/graphene sphere ‘goo’ can provide a meaningful digital interface in meatspace.