BumpTop, A Physics-Based Desktop UI
Although a bit outside the scope of games, I thought this bit of research was interesting: BumpTop, a physically-based desktop interface. It seems gimmicky, at first, but it quickly becomes obvious that they’ve put a ton of thought into their work. I wonder if this sort of usability research will seep into the standard operating systems of the future.
A higher-res version of this video is available at the BumpTop website. Imagine what kind of games would be bundled with that kind of desktop OS!
Related Posts:
- Toybox: Why Buy New When Digital Will Do?
- Souptoys Released for Free
- Cat Sledding, Meow!
- The Beginning
- Joint Task Force PhysX Trailer Released
My name is Matthew Wegner, and this site is dedicated to physics games.
(4.24 out of 5)
on June 21st, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Amazing
on June 21st, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Oh wow. That’s awesome.
on June 21st, 2006 at 11:21 pm
I have mixed feelings about that.
On one hand AWSOME! I can organize things in a 3D map and pile them how I want and even create emphasis on files I would like to use a lot.
On the other hand, the system was demo-ed by an expert of the program. The learning curve might kill, and reorganizing my desktop would be a scary propasition.
But mostly I’m going with AWSOME!
on June 22nd, 2006 at 2:15 am
Wow, that’s really a new desktop concept. I like it!
I’ve read a cuple of concept ideas how to bring 3D to the desktop but this seems to be the first to bring real benefits and not merly gimmicks. I also think that the it needs quite a bit of learning and adoption (we are not used to that), but looks like it’s worth the effort.
on June 22nd, 2006 at 4:37 am
Screw Aero, I want BumpTop !!!
on June 22nd, 2006 at 8:16 am
Wow! It’s unbelievable!
And I’m too confused, but because of requirements of this kind of program. I think it will slow down whole system.
on June 22nd, 2006 at 8:51 am
Simply superb.
on June 22nd, 2006 at 5:02 pm
Ugh… Personally, as amazing as it looks… I don’t really see how that can be useful to organizing information.
on June 22nd, 2006 at 5:09 pm
In the future with big moniters and big processers it could be cool.
on June 23rd, 2006 at 9:51 am
Bumptop looks like the kind of application that, with a clean enough interface, could help bridge the gap between “People who can’t understand a computer” and the rest of us. My grandmother, for example, cannot understand the mouse/on-screen cursor interaction. The concept of moving a physical object in the real world (mouse) to manipulate the cursor she cannot get her head around, and baffels her to no end. For someone like her, something where she can literally move the objects around could help to bridge that gap, since she is touching the objects with a pen instead of moving her hand with an object that is otherwise dislocated from the computer monitor.
on June 23rd, 2006 at 8:25 pm
This is absolutely amazing!! i want to beta no matter what the cost is! I beleive that this will revolutionize Desktop OS’s forever! This is also such a fun thing, you can’t have this much fun with Windows or even mac with their fisheye-like icon scrolling.Extreamly cleaver and amusing.
7h15 15 4m4z1n6! 8ump70p 70 7h3 m4x!
on June 24th, 2006 at 4:34 am
physics-speaking, its pretty cool. But my (real) desktop is already a mess, I don’t think simulating it on windows is a good thing for a folder management app. File or folder icons upside down are not very user-friendly, too. At most, I believe, like DCalabrese, it would be a good system for “People who can’t understand a computer”.
on June 26th, 2006 at 3:43 am
I’ve been using computers since I was a little boy, and I already have a fairly disorganised computer, with many directories of files that I barely use or the contents of which I have forgotten. Additionally, many folders contain large numbers of files, only a few of which interest me. I would love to have some type of system that lets me sort these files according to something that relates to what I have in my head, rather than sorting my head to how the files relate to each other (type, date, name etc).
To me, this would be a good step in the right direction – enabling me to sort my computer in a manner that made more sense to me than it currently does.
The next step would be to let me zoom out of those rooms and sort them as boxes in the same manner as the files within. After that, obviously I’d like to be able to use my hands instead of a pen.
on July 7th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
I think this looks like a potentially outstanding product – but not one that would likely be appealing to everybody. Its value would really depend on the way a given person thinks and organizes mentally now.
Personally, my physical desktop looks like a disaster area. (I started to say that it looks like a disaster area to everybody else, but in actuality it looks like a disaster area to me, too.) My filing cabinet doesn’t look dramatically better. However, when I want something or when somebody asks for something on my desk, I can reach for it and pull it out in an instant. It is organized – but not *neatly* organized. I have a mental map for it, and this product seems to be able to duplicate that process.
I would have to keep my computer locked from outside influence, though, since it would be very much like working with my physical desktop. One of the worst days I had was when a co-op student working in the office decided to help me one time when I was out of the office by cleaning up and organizing my desk for me. It was a nice thought…
on July 8th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Is it downloadable? And if so, where from?
Looks awesome, btw
on April 8th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Umm… What a waste of time…
Whats wrong with the current desktop?
I have a perfectly organized desktop and I love it….
Its like they are making a “ORGANIZE YOUR FILES” game.