interface | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 21 Jan 2015 21:44:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png interface | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Windows Holographic, the future of computer interaction https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/brendan-morgan/windows-holographic-the-future-of-computer-interaction/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/brendan-morgan/windows-holographic-the-future-of-computer-interaction/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2015 20:20:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=231816 At todays Windows 10 event Microsoft announced, among many other things, its new plans for the future of computer interaction with Windows Holographic and Microsoft Hololens. Together these blend the real world around you with overlaid interactive holograms that can be controlled with gestures and voice, in ways only seen previously in films. Hololens is the …

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At todays Windows 10 event Microsoft announced, among many other things, its new plans for the future of computer interaction with Windows Holographic and Microsoft Hololens. Together these blend the real world around you with overlaid interactive holograms that can be controlled with gestures and voice, in ways only seen previously in films.

Hololens is the name for the physical headset that brings these holograms into the world and is a totally self contained computer with a custom CPU, GPU and a new kind of chip called a Holographic Processing Unit (HPU), that will take all the inputs from the real world and overlay the holographic images. Together these chips will be able to overlay holographic projections of apps, games and 3D models in your environment.
Hololens
Unlike other VR tech such as the Oculus Rift, you can see through the lenses on the Hololens, meaning that it is easy to walk around and interact with real objects and no processing power is spent capturing and then displaying the real world. Additionally all the processing is done onboard, so there is no tether to your PC and projections are not limited to within a few feet of your PC. Perhaps the nearest comparison is to the recently cancelled Google Glass project which shows information on a small screen in your right eye. In comparison the Hololens headset displays a full HD 3D image that fills your vision.

Hololens clearly builds on Microsoft's work with Kinect and seems to feature a depth camera, similar to Kinect to detect the geometry of the world around you, as well as your gestures in real time. This can be used to scan real objects in the world, letting you then manipulate them virtually and finally send them off to be 3D printed. Microsoft has been working on this for a number of years in a secret lab underneath their visitors center of all places!

[yframe url='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aThCr0PsyuA']

In the gaming space as well this could be pretty incredible, but unfortunately you will no longer need your VR power gloves, as the built in cameras will be able to detect your gestures. Minecraft was one of the examples given in this case, showing a Minecraft world built all around a home. While the solution that Oculus provides will be better for full immersion in games, there could still be some really interesting uses in gaming for the Hololens tech, for instance you could be wearing it while playing a game on your PC with Hololens augmenting what you see  on screen into the living room around you.

Windows Holographic meanwhile is the operating system, that will run the apps and process all of the information from the sensors on the device. With it's base in Windows 10, it will be easy for developers to create apps that are cross platform across all Windows 10 devices, from phones and PCs to Xbox One and Hololens. It contains API's that developers can use and will not be limited only to Microsoft hardware, other hardware developers will be able to use Windows Holographic to build their own devices.

Availability is slated to be “in the Windows 10 timeframe” so unfortunately, we have no further information as to when we will be able to get our hands on a review unit or a final product yet.

For a roundup of all the announcements at todays Microsoft Event Matt has you covered HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Seems like the future is getting awfully close now. While this first iteration of the Hololens hardware does seem a bit bulky I'm sure this will be improved with time and it compares pretty favorably with the likes of the Oculus in terms of size. I just hope that we can get a hands on with this soon! How would you use it?

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Transition to flat user interfaces is inevitable, but will take time – former Apple engineer https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/anton-shilov/transition-to-flat-user-interfaces-is-inevitable-but-will-take-time-former-apple-engineer/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/anton-shilov/transition-to-flat-user-interfaces-is-inevitable-but-will-take-time-former-apple-engineer/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2014 08:25:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=226202 If you do not like modern graphics user interfaces of the latest operating, you will have to get over it because this is exactly how GUIs will look like going forward, according to a former Apple engineer. Flat is the new black. Millions of users have criticized Apple and Microsoft Corp. for changes of user …

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If you do not like modern graphics user interfaces of the latest operating, you will have to get over it because this is exactly how GUIs will look like going forward, according to a former Apple engineer. Flat is the new black.

Millions of users have criticized Apple and Microsoft Corp. for changes of user interfaces (UI) in their iOS, Mac OS X and Windows operating systems in the recent years. The new UIs lack the majority of skeuomorphic elements, are flat, minimalistic and very clean. However, in many cases they are not as intuitive or beautiful as previous-generation interfaces. Bill Fernandez, the first full-time employee of Apple and a well-known expert in user interfaces, believes that transition to flat UIs is just an inevitability.

“Years ago a friend asked what I thought Web pages of the future would be like and I said ‘like magazines,’” said Mr. Fernandez in an interview with Cnet News. “I thought we would see flatter designs, expert typography, beautiful, magazine-advertisement-like page layouts, etc. That prediction is coming true with the trend toward ‘flat' UI design.”

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When graphics user interfaces emerged in the eighties and evolved in the nineties, many of their elements were skeuomorphic, made to recreate actual objects, goods or devices. This helped to make UIs more intuitive for people not familiar with particular programs as well as more stylish. Many skeuomorphic design elements outlived actual items they were to depicture. We no longer use diskettes, folders, sketching boards, notepads, players and many other things we used just a decade ago. As a result, there is no more need to emulate the “real world” on displays: elements on displays have become the real world for many, if not all users.

Since modern user interfaces no longer have to resemble anything, it is time to make them clean and intuitive. Unfortunately, some things get lost on this path. Eventually, developers will figure out how to make “flat” UIs perfect.

“In moving towards flat design we are losing much of the wisdom that was embedded in the old 3D style of UI, for example: a user must be able to glance at a screen and know what is an interactive element (e.g., a button or link) and what is not (e.g., a label or motto); a user must be able to tell at a glance what an interactive element does (does it initiate a process, link to another page, download a document, etc.?); the UI should be explorable, discoverable and self-explanatory. But many apps and websites, in the interest of a clean, spartan visual appearance, leave important UI controls hidden until the mouse hovers over just the right area or the app is in just the right state. This leaves the user in the dark, often frustrated and disempowered,” explained the legendary engineer.

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Although it is an art to design user interfaces of software, Bill Fernandez reckons that visual design is only one element that users interact with. In reality user interacts with a lot of things and all of them have to be made very well.

“The true user interface is the gestalt of many things: industrial design, ergonomics, internal hardware, performance, error handling, visual design, interaction, latency, reliability, predictability, and more,” said the legendary engineer. “I am glad to see my profession moving from the concept of user ‘interface’ (where the user interacts with the screen) to user ‘experience’ (where more the above factors are considered),” said Mr. Fernandez.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The ideas behind transitions to flatter designs are well known. The problems that modern UIs bring are also evident in many cases. Still, in many cases modern UIs are actually easier to use than older interfaces, which is why they will continue to evolve, whereas skeuomorphism as we know it will cease to exist.

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