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WILL
27-06-2005, 08:12 AM
The Blueberry 3D Desktop project is a rather interesting concept. David Caouette, it's creator, invisions replacing your traditional flat 2D desktop with a 3D engine interface.

Development is under Delphi using OpenGL and the Win32 API it's self.

However development of the project has been delayed for mor than a year due to a lack of available 3D resources to work with. The author is asking if anyone would be willing to help or contribute to contact him via the project site. He is willing to hold off on closing the project for now. Anyone willing to help has until the 1st of August to help get the project back under way.

<center>files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop1.jpg ('files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop1.jpg') files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop2.jpg ('files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop2.jpg')
files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop3.jpg ('files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop3.jpg') files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop4.jpg ('files/news/2005_06_27_blueberry3ddesktop4.jpg')</center>


For more information about the Blueberry 3D Desktop go to www.blueberry.co.nr ('http://www.blueberry.co.nr/')

Darhazer
27-06-2005, 11:32 AM
Looks very interesting, years ago I dreamed about such desktop ;) I'll try it at home

Bart
27-06-2005, 01:48 PM
The graphics isn't realy good and it doesn't look usefull anyway.

WILL
29-06-2005, 11:22 PM
Well thats sort of the point though. The graphics aren't very good. It's in development. They need better graphics guys on their team to help continue the project.

As far as usefulness, maybe with a different set of interfaces besides keyboards, mice or joysticks you could go through this type of GUI much easier. Some sort of gyro or handheld device maybe?

cairnswm
30-06-2005, 05:01 AM
Longhorn was supposed to come out with a 3D interface. From the screen shots I've seen its not quite at this sort of depth.

I also think - whats the point - but thats exactly the same thoughts I had when windows came out and replaced DOS :)

WILL
30-06-2005, 10:11 PM
I've seen this sort of desktop tried once before some time ago. It was a DOS program and it had a similar representation of icons and folders. However it's usefulness was lacking. The human interface was all wrong. I mean, great for a flat 2D desktop like Windows 3.0(at that time), but for an dimention tacked on sort of makes your current common input hardware insufficient. I think that the gismos and controls need to evolve along with something of this nature and until something really catches on, you're just gonna have to bea fan or an inthusiast for something like this.

All the same I hope that they keep going as this is not just about some neat idea, but the evolution of the common GUI and pushing the gap between man and machine visual and manual interfacing.

Sly
30-06-2005, 10:28 PM
Longhorn was supposed to come out with a 3D interface. From the screen shots I've seen its not quite at this sort of depth.
Longhorn uses the acceleration capabilities of the 3D card to enhance the visual quality of the user interface, not to provide an actual 3D interface. Similar to how Mac OS X renders its windows to textures and then uses the 3D card to render those textures to the display.

cairnswm
01-07-2005, 04:40 AM
Does that mean DirectX10 (with longhorn) will have better 2D support or will the interface be using DirectX 3D?

Sly
01-07-2005, 04:44 AM
No idea. Haven't seen what XNA has to offer yet. The engine programmers are currently at Microsoft Meltdown 2005 over in the USA getting the scoop on how to use XNA and the Xbox 360, so I might have some more info when they come back.

cairnswm
01-07-2005, 05:28 AM
It would be great if you'd let me know as someone on another site has asked me.

WILL
01-07-2005, 06:56 AM
No idea. Haven't seen what XNA has to offer yet. The engine programmers are currently at Microsoft Meltdown 2005 over in the USA getting the scoop on how to use XNA and the Xbox 360, so I might have some more info when they come back.

Hmm... it might currently be a bit out of the range of some of the technical knowlage of those here, but maybe you can write-up a little thing for us here at PGD about what you find out there?

It would be neat at least. Since so many use DirectX here it might be of some interest to see how XNA will be unfolded. And what applications it might have for budding Pascal developers.

Sly
01-07-2005, 07:33 AM
I'm not actually going, so the information will be second hand. Plus it may be under NDA, so as to how much will be available to tell is unknown until the guys get back from the States.

WILL
03-07-2005, 11:43 PM
Well I wonder if this project was converted to FPC and was available for both Linux and Mac OS X aswell how that would effect the interest? OpenGL is already cross-platform so perhaps with a little reconstruction you could have your Win32 API units, Linux system units and MacOS X units organized in a fassion that allows for easy cross-compilation.

Lightning
19-07-2005, 01:09 PM
This kind of Desktop would be much more useful and easier to make for Linux, remember that X is just the window manager and can use GL, also it's organised in such a way that making a Desktop is really interesting and normal, would be verry cool to see such a project for Linux and why not *BSD and OSX, i think the Windows part is based on hacks and makes windows look strange, a real Desktop project has to control the looks of controls and at least window borders wich is kinda hard in windows but i think it's not impossible as i remember there was a project that changed nice themes in Win98.
I agree that some better graphics are required and a smarter interface since usefullness is verry important, i was thinking a half 3D desktop would be more useful than a full 3D one, let's say make animated 3D icons and things like that, navigating between folders can be fun but you get borred easily, maybe make folders/files like drawers/books in a library or that kind of stuff.
Just my 2c's :)