Project Looking Glass
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In computing, Project Looking Glass is a free software project under the GPL to create an innovative 3D desktop environment for Linux and Solaris. It is sponsored by Sun Microsystems.
Programmed in the Java language using the Java 3D system to remain platform independent despite the use of graphics acceleration features, the desktop explores the use of 3D windowing capabilities for both existing application programs and ones specifically designed for Looking Glass. The project is still in early development. The prototype is now working on Sun's Java Desktop System.
One of its most notable features is the creation of reversible windows. This capability can be used for features like allowing the user to write notes and comments on their backs, or displaying application dialogs without risking them being detached from the application they relate to. All windows start by looking like a normal 2D or 2.5D window, but can be manipulated as thin slate-like 3D objects which can be set at any angle or turned completely around by the user. Other features include provision of a panning virtual desktop, icons that reflect the live status of the window they represent and zooming of a window when it receives focus.
The project has features which strive towards the realisation of a true virtual Post-it note.
Looking Glass was first developed by Hideya Kawahara, a 33-year-old Sun programmer who wrote it in his spare time on a small Linux laptop. After demonstrating an early version to Sun executives, he was assigned to it full time with a dedicated team. java.net has an interview with him. [1] (http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2004/07/06/3ddesktop.html)
Looking Glass can be compared with the prototype "Task Gallery" from Microsoft Research, since both seek to exploit three-dimensional objects within some specific interaction constraints. Both also are meant to work on adapted or enhanced versions of existing desktops, instead of re-designing the entire graphical user interface from scratch, as is the case with many Zooming User Interfaces, such as the one being built by Jef Raskin, or the open source Croquet project based on Squeak.
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Videos
- - official video (http://www.sun.com/software/looking_glass/demo.xml)
- - Xtreme Tech show video (http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/xtreme/)
See also
External links
- Project Looking Glass - product home (http://wwws.sun.com/software/looking_glass/)
- Project Looking Glass - development home (http://lg3d.dev.java.net/)nl:Project Looking Glass