2009-08-28 21:01:06 UTC
why not do a "picture in picture" mode on demand? For example, if the user holds ctrl-alt and zooms in (or out) it leaves the main view at its current state and creates a "popup" PIP view (upper right hand corder, about 1/5th the main window size) that the use can find whatever they are looking for and then move files (or later, when they can remove virtual cosmos items, drag-drop style).
The paradigm that I'm seeing ZUIs like eagle mode coming to is as a full "desktop" interface, replacing the file manager, the window manager, and the concept of starting / stopping applications as you need them, instead allowing executing processes to exist somewhere in your cosmos as "stopped" processes until you zoom into them and attempt to interact with them (fire a CONT signal at mouse click?) and then allow the user to interact like they normally would with a typical application and then "save" a version of the file being worked on as the user zooms out / shifts focus (that part would have to be added in per applications, but since we are mainly talking open source apps, that's pretty easy to do / send a patch).
I could see a whole new set of challenges coming out of doing things this way, and it can't be done on your shoulders alone as it needs help from the other open source app developers, but with the right kind of dressings / eye candy, I can see Eagle Mode being the next major user interface shift.
Are you interested in designers and other programmers getting involved in this project?
