Will future display technology change web design?

[thusmann]

I was reading some news about new 3d display technologies and began contemplating the possibilities for web applications. Imagine a 3d touch screen display where you could grab objects and click on them with your fingers. These new displays may end up adding a new dimension to website design.

http://www.research.philips.com/InformationCenter/Global/FArticleSummary.asp?lNodeId=804&channel=804&channelId=N804A2333

[southplatte]

VRML on steroids?

Really, it is still years off to be affecting the web developer community, but it is becoming a reality at this point. LCDs are still more expensive, so when they are at the price that CRTs are at now, I could imagine that the 3d will be at the price the standard LCDs are at now.

8-10 years is my guess-timate. Amazing technology though. Think of how you could use it. Site Map?? Just reach out and grab the page you want to view! Dynamic content that is manipulated in shape, location, form and more? By the viewer?

Hmmm...wonder what kind of "standards" could be thought of for this and how effective they would be with designers, browsers etc. That's a scary thought.

[skyrocket]

When everyone is on broadband (or super broadband - or whatever they think of next...) then we may see a shift towards the bandwidth hogging stuff like 3D. Things are changing right now - I am trying to get my head around designing pages that still look good on palm PC's and even mobile phones.

[splinter]

I dunno if it's a good idea though. Think how many bad 2D websites there are!

Also, can you really see people being willing to grab things when they can just use a mouse. It would make coming into the office (hey! I've been on work experience. I do know what an office looks like :P) quite amusing.

Everyone waving their arms around.

Nah, it'll go the way of VR i.e. flop.

[thusmann]

I think VR went into secret military operations more than it flopped. This just means the technology went to the highest bidders.

I think the 3d display technology will evolve into something similar to the talon ship's controls on Gene Roddenberry's Tv Series Earth: Final Conflict.

[lspence]

Just remember, that when 3d displays appear on the market, it will be a long time before they are affordable by the masses.

In addition to using desktop/laptops to surf the web, people will be using their pda's, cell phones, refidgerators, car dashboard display, and who knows what. I'm pretty sure those devices won't have 3d displays until the technology matures.

After the technology arrives, it will take a long time before it's standard. After all, who would have thought this long after broadband, that we'd still be optimizing our webpages for 8 seconds on 56.6k modem?

[splinter]

Well the problem with broadband (at least in Britain) is that BT have made a pigs-arse out of upgrading the exchanges. Also, the price is prohibitively expensive. £24.99 a month if you want unlimited access, £17.99 a month with a 2Gb bandwidth restriction.

I still have to use 56K :(

[TrafficProducer]

Breakthroughs in Technology

More 3D...

and BluRay i.e 50 Gb DVD (10x storeage of DVD)

etc..

http://www.future.wizkids.co.uk/index.html

[sem-seo-pro]

3d would be nice...but one has to remember there are a great many places in the US not to mention the world will broadband will probably never reach.

To add insult to injury the satelitte companies who offer broadband tech to these areas charge half a child and birthrights to the next one.

Also as long as were on 3D it would have to be some sort of graphical image to grab and we all know what search engines think of text on pics.

As a side note there was an article somewhere recently posted that the sales of PDAs are dying, most companies are abandonging future spending to convert their websites to show on PDAs

Thin clients are back on the rize and with virtual read out displays here as we speak....soon your laptop will be rolled up like a diploma or folded up to fit in your pocket, when you want to use it, unrolled or unfolded. Youll turn it on and basically it will be just your montior displaying a VR keyboard on your desk or table.

Okay I must have got lost in the future..

Clint

[flashfast]

Firstly, 3D sensations come and go. I am wary of this one firstly because the article is written by the manufacture e.g. 'made it possible...to make convincing...3D displays.' Now what does 'convincing' mean? A bit sus to me.

Also, one has to create content, or edit content for it to display. Great, but their software is windows only - gee, that about excludes the majority of the motion graphics industry since they use macs, so don't expect any real diverse content coming your way.

[mrmylesdean]

There already exists 3D visual displays of (for example) an oil rig, where the user can navigate throughout the structure removing parts. Each part can be rotated in 3D, and when the user chooses, each part can show it's unique part information: size, weight, replacement lifecycle (last replaced or repaired), cost, Bill of Materials, etc. However such functionality requires a database of the Oracle kind sitting behind the "graphics". So any Websolution must be database driven, since dynamic information (information that changes continuously - like prices) can only be handled by dynamic databases.

The main pushers of this type of technology has been areospace, car and military development groups, though the example above was taken from a friend of mine in Norway who tried to sell this 3D solution to the Norwegian government for their oilrig product lifecycle management program.

In closing, the difference between using a mouse or my fingers to "grab" an object on a display is no longer a big leap of the wallet, and it's also a moderatly easy jump for a midsize company (100+ employees)to make a webbased solution riding on top of Oracle. So I see this as a question already answered - it's already here, but not out on the WWW for everyone to experience. Too bad - it's really fantastic!

[synergytheory]

I seen a 3D screen on TechTV, on a [Toshiba?] laptop.
This will be cool, but touch screen, I dunno...I might be showing my laziness here :) but I don't even use my mouse much. I don't see myself reaching up to touch my screen. And I hate having smudges on my screen too.

[mikmik]

3D will be standard desktop technology with the release ov Windows longhorn.
It is codenamed 'Avalon'.
We will have 3D as more people get used to the idea, but incorporated with voice recognition, there are fantastic things possible.
Very. I want 3D displays.
I think they are the measure of gaming technology, the reason that we have need of such powerful video software now???

There is much more than applications to look at, even giving that some CAD CAM and all becomes more prevelant and powerful - providing commercial incentive for whatever works best at realistic design, but the trend is towards a 'Multi-Media' enviornment in desktop marketting and home usage, and I am sure most people will embrace being entertained in 3D.
Like I said, when windows, and then others, make it standard fare, we will not be asking this question, there will be no doubt.

Didn't these same sort of debates happen with switching to color and animations...eg: What for, it is unneccesary and too complicated??

I am just speculating here, I like all the opinions for showing me what people think.

[HardCoded]

I want 3D on my DAoC and other games. I might also want it in my porn.

I don't want 3D on websites. I think it might be retarded, bloated, and not conducive to getting me the information I want quickly.

Websites should not be 'stunning'. I'm stunned enough.

[mikmik]

I am not here

[mikmik]

http://themelabs.com/index.php?module=subjects&func=viewpage&pageid=2

3D organization and visualization is the wave of the future for Content Management Systems:
http://atlassw1.phy.bnl.gov/Planning/uscmswbs.html

Okay, that is hard to understand, you have to really scoure through it and look at the fine print, but it shows quite a few uses for 3D software.

Here is another example, it is data analysis..
http://typo3.com/Dassault_Syst_mes.1386.0.html

Mobile tourists in touch with nature (http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/communication_media/report-25738.html)

Me?

I can hardly wait.
One of my favourite sites for a while now:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/index.jsp

Man, it used to be free, and it still is, you just have to ...Just go to it and type in your word and click 'Look it up', and pick 'Try'

I can't wait for the 'Holodeck', let alone 3D display and interaction.

[scallihan]

I was reading some news about new 3d display technologies and began contemplating the possibilities for web applications. Imagine a 3d touch screen display where you could grab objects and click on them with your fingers. These new displays may end up adding a new dimension to website design.

http://www.research.philips.com/InformationCenter/Global/FArticleSummary.asp?lNodeId=804&channel=804&channelId=N804A2333

Does it come with a pair of 3D glasses? That way, the display could extend out into the viewing space.