Graphical user interface - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

, a graphical user interface (GUI, sometimes pronounced gooey) is a type of user interface

User interface

The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...

that allows users

User (computing)

A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...

to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s, hand-held devices such as MP3

MP3

MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...

players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and office equipment. A GUI represents the information and actions available to a user through graphical icons

Icon (computing)

A computer icon is a pictogram displayed on a computer screen and used to navigate a computer system or mobile device. The icon itself is a small picture or symbol serving as a quick, intuitive representation of a software tool, function or a data file accessible on the system. It functions as an...

and visual indicators such as secondary notation

Secondary notation

In design, a secondary notation is defined as "visual cues which are not part of formal notation". Properties like position, indentation, color, symmetry, when used to convey information, are secondary notation....

, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

The term GUI is historically restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens with display resolutions able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the computer science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

research at the PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). The term GUI earlier might have been applicable to other high-resolution types of interfaces that are non-generic, such as video games, or not restricted to flat screens, like volumetric display

Volumetric display

A volumetric display device is a graphical display device that forms a visual representation of an object in three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image of traditional screens that simulate depth through a number of different visual effects...

History

Precursors

A precursor to GUIs was invented by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, led by Douglas Engelbart

Douglas Engelbart

Douglas Carl Engelbart is an American inventor, and an early computer and internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on the challenges of human-computer interaction, resulting in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs...

. They developed the use of text-based hyperlink

Hyperlink

In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...

s manipulated with a mouse for the On-Line System. The concept of hyperlinks was further refined and extended to graphics by researchers at Xerox PARC

Xerox PARC

PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....

, who went beyond text-based hyperlinks and used a GUI as the primary interface for the Xerox Alto

Xerox Alto

The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use , making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973...

computer

Computer

. Most modern general-purpose GUIs are derived from this system.

Ivan Sutherland

Ivan Sutherland

Ivan Edward Sutherland is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer. He received the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1988 for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the sort of graphical user interface that has become ubiquitous in personal...

developed a pointer-based system called the Sketchpad

Sketchpad

Sketchpad was a revolutionary computer program written by Ivan Sutherland in 1963 in the course of his PhD thesis, for which he received the Turing Award in 1988. It helped change the way people interact with computers...

in 1963. It used a light-pen to guide the creation and manipulation of objects in engineering drawings.

PARC user interface

The PARC user interface consisted of graphical elements such as window

Window (computing)

In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap with the area of other windows...

s, menu

Menu (computing)

In computing and telecommunications, a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer or communications system. A menu is used in contrast to a command-line interface, where instructions to the computer are given in the form of commands .Choices given from a menu may be selected...

s, radio buttons, check box

Check box

In computing, a checkbox is a graphical user interface element that permits the user to make multiple selections from a number of options or to have the user answer yes or no on a simple yes/no question.Normally, checkboxes are shown on...

es and icon

Icon (computing)

s. The PARC user interface employs a pointing device

Pointing device

A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...

in addition to a keyboard. These aspects can be emphasized by using the alternative acronym WIMP

WIMP (computing)

In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus and pointers", denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980...

, which stands for windows, icons, menus and pointing device
Pointing device
A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...

.

Evolution

Following PARC the first GUI-centric computer operating model was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System

Xerox Star

The Star workstation, officially known as the Xerox 8010 Information System, was introduced by Xerox Corporation in 1981. It was the first commercial system to incorporate various technologies that today have become commonplace in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window-based...

in 1981, followed by the Apple Lisa

Apple Lisa

The Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....

(which presented the concept of menu bar as well as window controls) in 1983, the Apple Macintosh 128K

Macintosh 128K

The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...

in 1984, and the Atari ST

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...

and Commodore Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

in 1985.

The GUIs familiar to most people today are Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

, and X Window System

X Window System

The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...

interfaces for desktop and laptop computers, and Symbian, BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices...

, Android and Apple's iOS for handheld ("smartphone

Smartphone

A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...

") devices.

Apple, IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

and Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

used many of Xerox's ideas to develop products, and IBM's Common User Access

Common User Access

Common User Access is a standard for user interfaces to operating systems and computer programs. It was developed by IBM and first published in 1987 as part of their Systems Application Architecture...

specifications formed the basis of the user interface found in Microsoft Windows, IBM OS/2 Presentation Manager

Presentation Manager

Presentation Manager is the graphical user interface that IBM and Microsoft introduced in version 1.1 of their operating system OS/2 in late 1988.-History:...

, and the Unix

Unix

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...

Motif

Motif (widget toolkit)

In computing, Motif refers to both a graphical user interface specification and the widget toolkit for building applications that follow that specification under the X Window System on Unix and other POSIX-compliant systems. It emerged in the 1980s as Unix workstations were on the rise, as a...

toolkit and window manager

Window manager

A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment...

. These ideas evolved to create the interface found in current versions of Microsoft Windows, as well as in Mac OS X and various desktop environments for Unix-like

Unix-like

A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....

operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

s, such as Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

. Thus most current GUIs have largely common idioms.

Components

A GUI uses a combination of technologies and devices to provide a platform that the user can interact with, for the tasks of gathering and producing information.

A series of elements conforming a visual language

Visual language

A visual language is a system of communication using visual elements. Speech as a means of communication cannot strictly be separated from the whole of human communicative activity which includes the visual and the term 'language' in relation to vision is an extension of its use to describe the...

have evolved to represent information stored in computers. This makes it easier for people with few computer skills to work with and use computer software. The most common combination of such elements in GUIs is the WIMP

WIMP (computing)

In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus and pointers", denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980...

("window, icon, menu, pointing device") paradigm, especially in personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

s.

The WIMP style of interaction uses a physical input device

Input device

In computing, an input device is any peripheral used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance...

to control the position of a cursor

Cursor (computers)

In computing, a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a computer monitor or other display device that will respond to input from a text input or pointing device. The flashing text cursor may be referred to as a caret in some cases...

and presents information organized in windows and represented with icons. Available commands are compiled together in menus, and actions are performed making gestures with the pointing device. A window manager

Window manager

facilitates the interactions between windows, applications, and the windowing system

Windowing system

A windowing system is a component of a graphical user interface , and more specifically of a desktop environment, which supports the implementation of window managers, and provides basic support for graphics hardware, pointing devices such as mice, and keyboards...

. The windowing system

Windowing system

handles hardware devices such as pointing devices and graphics hardware, as well as the positioning of the cursor.

In personal computer

Personal computer

s all these elements are modeled through a desktop metaphor

Desktop metaphor

The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...

, to produce a simulation called a desktop environment

Desktop environment

In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...

in which the display represents a desktop, upon which documents and folders of documents can be placed. Window manager

Window manager

s and other software combine to simulate the desktop environment with varying degrees of realism.

Post-WIMP interfaces

Smaller mobile devices such as PDA

PDA

A PDA is most commonly a Personal digital assistant, also known as a Personal data assistant, a mobile electronic device.PDA may also refer to:In science, medicine and technology:...

s and smartphone

Smartphone

s typically use the WIMP elements with different unifying metaphors, due to constraints in space and available input devices. Applications for which WIMP is not well suited may use newer interaction technique

Interaction technique

An interaction technique, user interface technique or input technique is a combination of hardware and software elements that provides a way for computer users to accomplish a single task. For example, one can go back to the previously visited page on a Web browser by either clicking a button,...

s, collectively named as post-WIMP

Post-WIMP

In computing post-WIMP comprises work on user interfaces, mostly graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows, icons, menus and a pointing device, i.e. WIMP interfaces....

user interfaces.

As of 2011, some touch-screen-based operating systems such as Apple's iOS (iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

) and Android use the class of GUIs named post-WIMP

Post-WIMP

. These support styles of interaction using more than one finger in contact with a display, which allows actions such as pinching and rotating, which are unsupported by one pointer and mouse.

Post-WIMP

Post-WIMP

includes 3D compositing window manager

Compositing window manager

A compositing window manager is a type of window manager. A window manager is software that draws a graphical user interface on a computer display – it positions windows, draws additional elements on windows , and controls how windows interact with each other, and with the rest of the desktop...

s such as Compiz

Compiz

Compiz is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. The effects, such as a minimization effect and a cube workspace are implemented as loadable plugins...

, Desktop Window Manager

Desktop Window Manager

Desktop Window Manager is the window manager in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that enables the Windows Aero graphical user interface and visual theme. The Desktop Window Manager requires video cards supporting DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 2.0. DWM is not included with Windows Vista Starter edition...

, and LG3D. Some post-WIMP interfaces may be better suited for applications which model immersive 3D environments, such as Google Earth

Google Earth

Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...

User interface and interaction design

Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of GUI is an important part of software application programming in the area of human-computer interaction. Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program

Computer program

A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...

, a design discipline known as usability

Usability

Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...

. Methods of user-centered design

User-centered design

In broad terms, user-centered design or pervasive usability is a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process...

are used to ensure that the visual language introduced in the design is well tailored to the tasks.

Typically, the user interacts with information by manipulating visual widgets that allow for interactions appropriate to the kind of data they hold. The widgets of a well-designed interface are selected to support the actions necessary to achieve the goals of the user. A Model-view-controller

Model-view-controller

Model–view–controller is a software architecture, currently considered an architectural pattern used in software engineering. The pattern isolates "domain logic" from the user interface , permitting independent development, testing and maintenance of each .Model View Controller...

allows for a flexible structure in which the interface is independent from and indirectly linked to application functionality, so the GUI can be easily customized. This allows the user to select or design a different skin
Skin (computing)
In computing, a skin is a custom graphical appearance achieved by the use of a graphical user interface that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users....

at will, and eases the designer's work to change the interface as the user needs evolve. Nevertheless, good user interface design relates to the user, not the system architecture.

The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as "chrome". Larger widgets, such as windows, usually provide a frame or container for the main presentation content such as a web page, email message or drawing. Smaller ones usually act as a user-input tool.

A GUI may be designed for the rigorous requirements of a vertical market

Vertical market

A vertical market is a group of similar businesses and customers that engage in trade based on specific and specialized needs. Often, participants in a vertical market are very limited to a subset of a larger industry...

. This is known as an "application specific graphical user interface." Among early application specific GUIs was Gene Mosher's 1986 Point of Sale touchscreen GUI. Other examples of an application specific GUIs are:

Self-service checkout
Self checkout
Self checkout machines provide a mechanism for customers to pay for purchases from a retailer without direct input to the process by the retailer's staff. They are an alternative to the traditional cashier-staffed checkout...

s used in a retail store
Automated teller machines (ATM)
Airline self-ticketing and check-in
Information kiosks in a public space, like a train station or a museum
Monitors or control screens in an embedded industrial application which employ a real time operating system (RTOS).

The latest cell phones and handheld game systems also employ application specific touchscreen GUIs. Newer automobiles use GUIs in their navigation systems and touch screen multimedia centers.

Command-line interfaces

GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve

Learning curve

A learning curve is a graphical representation of the changing rate of learning for a given activity or tool. Typically, the increase in retention of information is sharpest after the initial attempts, and then gradually evens out, meaning that less and less new information is retained after each...

of command-line interface

Command-line interface

A command-line interface is a mechanism for interacting with a computer operating system or software by typing commands to perform specific tasks...

s (CLI), which require commands to be typed on the keyboard

Computer keyboard

In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

. Since the commands available in command line interfaces can be numerous, complicated operations can be completed using a short sequence of words and symbols. This allows for greater efficiency and productivity once many commands are learned, but reaching this level takes some time because the command words are not easily discoverable and not mnemonic

Mnemonic

A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...

. WIMP

WIMP (computing)

In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus and pointers", denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980...

s ("window, icon, menu, pointing device"), on the other hand, present the user with numerous widgets that represent and can trigger some of the system's available commands.

WIMPs extensively use modes

Mode (computer interface)

In user interface design, a mode is a distinct setting within a computer program or any physical machine interface, in which the same user input will produce perceived different results than it would in other settings....

as the meaning of all keys and clicks on specific positions on the screen are redefined all the time. Command line interfaces use modes only in limited forms, such as the current directory and environment variables.

Most modern operating system

Operating system

s provide both a GUI and some level of a CLI, although the GUIs usually receive more attention. The GUI is usually WIMP-based, although occasionally other metaphors surface, such as those used in Microsoft Bob

Microsoft Bob

Microsoft Bob was a Microsoft software product, released in March 1995, which provided a new, nontechnical interface to desktop computing operations. It was one of Microsoft's more visible product failures...

, 3dwm or File System Visualizer

File System Visualizer

File System Visualizer, also known as fsv, is a 3D file browser using OpenGL, created by Daniel Richard G. It is a clone of SGI's fsn file manager for IRIX systems, aimed to run on modern Linux and other Unix-like operating systems...

(FSV).

Applications may also provide both interfaces, and when they do the GUI is usually a WIMP wrapper around the command-line version. This is especially common with applications designed for Unix-like

Unix-like

A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....

operating systems. The latter used to be implemented first because it allowed the developers to focus exclusively on their product's functionality without bothering about interface details such as designing icons and placing buttons. Designing programs this way also allows users to run the program non-interactively, such as in a shell script

Shell script

A shell script is a script written for the shell, or command line interpreter, of an operating system. It is often considered a simple domain-specific programming language...

Three-dimensional user interfaces

For typical computer displays, three-dimensional is a misnomer—their displays are two-dimensional. Semantically, however, most graphical user interfaces use three dimensions - in addition to height and width, they offer a third dimension of layering or stacking screen elements over one another. This may be represented visually on screen through an illusionary transparent effect, which offers the advantage that information in background windows may still be read, if not interacted with. Or the environment may simply hide the background information, possibly making the distinction apparent by drawing a drop shadow

Drop shadow

In computer graphics, a drop shadow is a visual effect consisting of drawing that looks like the shadow of an object, giving the impression that the object is raised above the objects behind it. The drop shadow is often used for elements of a graphical user interface such as windows or menus, and...

effect over it.

Some environments use the methods of 3D graphics to project virtual three dimensional user interface objects onto the screen. As the processing power of computer graphics hardware increases, this becomes less of an obstacle to a smooth user experience.

Motivation

Three-dimensional GUIs are quite common in science fiction literature and movies, such as in Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...

, which features Silicon Graphics

Silicon Graphics

Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...

' three-dimensional file manager, "File system navigator", an actual file manager that never got much widespread use as the user interface for a Unix computer. In fiction, three-dimensional user interfaces are often immersible environments like William Gibson's Cyberspace

Cyberspace

Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...

or Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...

's Metaverse
Metaverse
The Metaverse is our collective online shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet...

.

Three-dimensional graphics are currently mostly used in computer games, art and computer-aided design

Computer-aided design

Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...

(CAD). There have been several attempts at making three-dimensional desktop environments like Sun's Project Looking Glass

Project Looking Glass

Project Looking Glass is a now inactive free software project under the GPL to create an innovative 3D desktop environment for Linux, Solaris, and Windows. It was sponsored by Sun Microsystems....

or SphereXP from Sphere Inc. A three-dimensional computing environment could possibly be used for collaborative work. For example, scientists could study three-dimensional models of molecules in a virtual reality environment, or engineers could work on assembling a three-dimensional model of an airplane. This is a goal of the Croquet project

Croquet Project

The Croquet Project was an international effort to promote the continued development of the Croquet open source software development kit for creating and delivering deeply collaborative multi-user online applications....

and Project Looking Glass

Project Looking Glass

Project Looking Glass is a now inactive free software project under the GPL to create an innovative 3D desktop environment for Linux, Solaris, and Windows. It was sponsored by Sun Microsystems....

Technologies

The use of three-dimensional graphics has become increasingly common in mainstream operating systems, from creating attractive interfaces—eye candy

Eye candy

Eye candy may refer to:*Attractiveness*Eye Candy , an album by Mis-Teeq*software "Eye Candy", a plugin for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Fireworks that adds new filter effects*"Eye Candy", an episode of the animated series Happy Tree Friends...

— to functional purposes only possible using three dimensions. For example, user switching is represented by rotating a cube whose faces are each user's workspace, and window management is represented via a Rolodex

Rolodex

A Rolodex is a rotating file device used to store business contact information currently manufactured by Newell Rubbermaid. The Rolodex holds specially shaped index cards; the user writes the contact information for one person or company on each card...

-style flipping mechanism in Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

(see Windows Flip 3D). In both cases, the operating system transforms windows on-the-fly while continuing to update the content of those windows.

Interfaces for the X Window System

X Window System

The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...

have also implemented advanced three-dimensional user interfaces through compositing window manager

Compositing window manager

s such as Beryl

Beryl (window manager)

Beryl was a compositing window manager for the X Window System which forked from Compiz in September 2006 and was re-merged in 2007, under the name of Compiz Fusion.-Origin:...

, Compiz

Compiz

and KWin

KWin

KWin is a window manager for the X Window System. It is an integral part of the KDE Software Compilation, although it can be used on its own or with other desktop environments.- History :- Look and feel :...

using the AIGLX

AIGLX

Accelerated Indirect GLX is an open source project founded by Red Hat and the Fedora community, led by Kristian Høgsberg, to allow accelerated indirect GLX rendering capabilities to the X.Org Server and DRI drivers...

or XGL

Xgl

Xgl was an X server architecture designed to take advantage of modern graphics cards via their OpenGL drivers, layered on top of OpenGL via glitz. It supported hardware acceleration of all X, OpenGL and XVideo applications and graphical effects by a compositing window manager such as Compiz or...

architectures, allowing for the usage of OpenGL to animate the user's interactions with the desktop.

Another branch in the three-dimensional desktop environment is the three-dimensional GUIs that take the desktop metaphor a step further, like the BumpTop

BumpTop

In computing, BumpTop is a desktop environment that simulates the normal behavior and physical properties of a real world desk, and enhances it with automatic tools to organize its contents. It is aimed at stylus interaction, making it more suitable for tablet computers and handheld PCs. It was...

, where a user can manipulate documents and windows as if they were "real world" documents, with realistic movement and physics.

The Zooming User Interface

Zooming User Interface

In computing, a zooming user interface or zoomable user interface is a graphical environment where users can change the scale of the viewed area in order to see more detail or less, and browse through different documents. A ZUI is a type of graphical user interface...

(ZUI) is a related technology that promises to deliver the representation benefits of 3D environments without their usability drawbacks of orientation problems and hidden objects. It is a logical advancement on the GUI, blending some three-dimensional

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

movement with two-dimensional

2D computer graphics

2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...

or "2.5D

2.5D

2.5D , 3/4 perspective and pseudo-3D are terms used to describe either:* 2D graphical projections and techniques which cause a series of images or scenes to fake or appear to be three-dimensional when in fact they are not, or* gameplay in an otherwise three-dimensional video game that is...

" vector objects. In 2006, Hillcrest Labs

Hillcrest Labs

Hillcrest Labs invented Freespace motion-control technology and the first motion-controlled remote for television. Freespace allows users to control images on a screen by using natural motions, allowing for a new way of interacting with television content...

introduced the first zooming user interface for television.

External links

The men who really invented the GUI by Clive Akass
Graphical User Interface Gallery, screenshots of various GUIs
Marcin Wichary's GUIdebook, Graphical User Interface gallery: over 5500 screenshots of GUI, application and icon history
The Real History of the GUI by Mike Tuck
A History of the GUI by Jeremy Reimer of Ars Technica
Ars Technica
Ars Technica is a technology news and information website created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. Ars Technica is known for its features, long articles that go...
In The Beginning Was The Command Line by Neal Stephenson

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History

Precursors

PARC user interface

Evolution

Components

Post-WIMP interfaces

User interface and interaction design

Command-line interfaces

Three-dimensional user interfaces

Motivation

Technologies

See also

External links