

Zooming user interface - varl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooming_user_interface

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varl
Every now and again I come back to this, and think that this is the future in
user interfaces. It would unite tablets, pc and mobile platforms around a
single ui concept. I could use my PC to write something and then grab my
tablet and connect to the same canvas and proof-read it.

We can have different viewports connected to the same infinite canvas at the
same time and visualise them.

Much of our lives, even at home, is spent in this virtual space, so why not
share it with one another?

If I was sharing my home computer with my partner over remote viewports, I can
pan over to the place at the canvas she was currently using as her viewport
and get a visual connection with what she was doing and interact a bit.

Of course you could have a "redacted session" in which case the area used as
viewport would be blacked out, if you need secrecy for e.g. work.

I really enjoy the concept of sharing one computer and at the same time, like
virtual space in addition to apartment space. This is, pretty much, a user
interface extension of finger[1].

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_protocol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_protocol)

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andrewflnr
I think I upvoted you (darn tablet). Anyway, I completely agree. It's too bad
it seems to have been passed over in the rush to "innovate on mobile" and
whatnot

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varl
It's common that good ideas exist for a very long time before technology
enables them, yet I feel that we are at that point /now/ and have been for a
while, yet there is little-to-no activity in this area.

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_mhr_
I've always thought that ZUIs would be confusing for users. It's a completely
modal interface. If you can zoom in infinitely or zoom out infinitely, it
would probably be hard to determine where you are conceptually. Can anyone
address this?

~~~
varl
I imagine that a minimap could help with that, or showing nearest neighbors at
the edges of the viewport, and perhaps being able to alt-tab between
applications as well as groups would help.

You can use space to have a visual organisation of things, but you don't have
to navigate the space since it's virtual. You should be able to navigate
suitable to your platform running the viewport.

Pinch-to-zoom, drag to move, two-finger tap to bring up list of applications
to move to instantly on a tablet.

Keyboard based navigation and manipulation of the canvas if you prefer to not
use a mouse on your workstation.

Click to drag and scroll-to-zoom to navigate with a mouse, when that is more
appropriate, for example.

