gui bloggity blog blog blog

OnTop Interface

2009-12-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

This little guy is an interface that allows user to look through files and such. It seems to interact very similarly to the way scatterview works on the surface. It uses a projector of some sort and it projects the interface onto a flat surface such as a table. The users use a pen device to interact with the objects projected on the screen. It seems like it would be rather useful in collaboration efforts.

Brain Gate

2009-11-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

I was looking at Bob's blog and found this little guy. It is essentially a system that reads electrical impulses that comes from the brain and allows the user to control certain things with just his mind. In the video, the guy was able to play a simple pong game just by thinking about it. This system is the future of what system interfaces will likely become. Being able to control things with our minds could give the controls much more precision. It gives interfaces a whole new dimension. Like in the video, this interface is not limited to anybody so people who have medical conditions who cannot use physical interfaces will benefit greatly from this.

Week 10: Steam

2009-11-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

I've been using this video manager called steam for the past year and I feel like the interface valve developed. You can purchase games off her and download them onto your computer and it automatically updates them for you. You can do a multitude of things on here. It keep track of your friends, people you played with, games, etc... It even has its own internet browser. I think the thing that impresses me most is the simplicity of it all. Nothing is ever hard to find. The way the frame is set up, everything you need is at your fingertips. One click is all that is usually needed to get to anything I usually need to get to. It does not overwhelm the eyes.

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autozone's website

2009-10-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/

Last summer, I was very fortunate to have an internship at the Autozone Store Support Center in Memphis. Over the course of the summer, they had a series of presentations made by various departments that told us about what they did and how they contribute to Autozone. One of the last presentations was made by the web design team. They showed pictures of all the old versions of the websites and told us how it evolved over the years.

Just looking at this present site, the ease of use stands out to me. Everything you need is right there. It is nice to look at and I feel like its a well done site. Sometimes websites for stores have awful websites but this is just not the case.

cool stuff

2009-09-22T00:33:00.000-07:00

This week we look at stepmania, which is essentially a dance dance revolution clone. I used to play this game a lot but I never took the time to appreciate all the little things about it. I really like the interface. I appreciate its simplicity in telling you only what you need to know, such as your health and your points, and it does not try to overload your eyes with too many gauges and such.

Awesome Smart Flashy Etc. Interfaces

2009-09-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

I was really impressed when I first watched the E3 video on project natal. What you could do with it seemed incredible, but I guess my biggest question with it was the feasibility of it all. It just seems like it would be dang near impossible to get everything right. For example, we look at the the Nintendo Wii. It definitely has some of the same functions natal shows, such as the motion sensing video game element. The natal video shows the device being able to pick out every movement and action perfectly and the human body is integrated into the games seamlessly. This seems highly improbable as the wii has problems doing so even with the wiimotes helping the sensor bar. I'm not saying it would not be possible to do it, it just seems like the environment would have to be perfect for a device to be able to do that.

I don't think an interface has to be flashy in order for it to be smart. It just has to feel right and work right. This is where fallout 3 comes in. It is a mix between a first person shooter and an action RPG. They got the interface just right so that you can experience both of those elements.

classic gui

2009-09-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite games of all time. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. I spent countless hours playing this game online with a couple of my buddies. This game features a very user friendly GUI which allows for new players to quickly pick the game up. You got your minimap on the bottom left, the unit animations and details in the middle and the various commands on the right. This takes after one of the most popular real time strategy games of all time: starcraft. It is rather intuitive to use and even if you don't know what the buttons mean, you can hover your mouse over the button and it will give you a description. What I like about this GUI is the simplicity. Some RTS games out there have way too many buttons and it clutters up the screen. The crew that worked on this game gave the game just enough balance so that you have everything that you need without overwhelming you. I think that is the most important thing about a GUI.

Intro

2009-08-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

This here is my first attempt at blogging about various system interfaces related stuff. woo!