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OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/23165/What_We_Can_Learn_From_MovieOS Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2013, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Mon, 20 May 2013 01:42:55 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Good Idea http://www.osnews.com/thread?419380 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419380 This is a great idea. This should be implemented in a way so that real world, everyday paradigms are carried into the user's computer experience. For example, the daily paradigm of moving through your "house" could be translated into navigating your PC. You could find "documents" by clicking papers on tables, and open "programs" by interacting with objects in the room. Here's a mockup of what it might look like:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taouu/html/graphics/bobhome1p.png

Now we just need a cool name for it.... Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (red_devel) Comments RE: Good Idea http://www.osnews.com/thread?419387 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419387 Whatever you say, Bob! ;-) Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (looncraz) Comments Just Two Ideas http://www.osnews.com/thread?419389 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419389 What if we:

1) Tracked the difference between a computer doing things and a person doing things? (And maybe there could be shades of grey, like when you access a shortcut and the machine therefore opens a file on your behalf)

2) Tracked how much people / computers used files or other data, toward the goal of profiling the difference in importance of a file so that, for example, upon deleting something I spent hours making, my computer could say, "Yeah, you spent hours making this. You sure you want to delete?" Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Nathan O.) Comments Viewer Friendly Interface http://www.osnews.com/thread?419391 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419391 Of course, there's already an article about this on TV Tropes. They call it the "Viewer Friendly Interface."

I could keep quoting project after project that attempts to emulate this, but it seems silly when they've collected them all into one place... Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Almafeta) Comments RE: Good Idea http://www.osnews.com/thread?419393 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419393 Ha ha! I was thinking exactly the same thing when I read Thom's comments! Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Tuishimi) Comments Comment by Kroc http://www.osnews.com/thread?419394 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419394 Whatâs so special about MovieOS is how effortlessly it represents information using maps or videos or 3D objects; when we all know such stuff has to be created by someone, somewhere and you canât just throw together a 3D diagram of the solar system to count down to the planets aligning.

However, what we are seeing with mashups and public data becoming machine readable across the web, we may actually one day have enough datasets freely available in accessible formats to throw together highly visual representations of data with just a few clicks or lines of code. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kroc) Comments More power .... http://www.osnews.com/thread?419395 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419395 The idea of making the user aware of big and possibly bad changes is good, however adding more eye candy will call for more powerful machines.

This is why every time a new OS comes out we need a machine several times more powerful than the one we have to perform the exact same tasks, as the article says, enough is enough and it is already getting in the way of actually doing things. Maybe someone will come up with an effective way to accomplish this while not using many resources and still make it look good. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (r00kie) Comments What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419400 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419400 Nothing. First, there isn't any real MovieOS. Second, in most of movies actors use a bunch of Linux terminals showing code being compiled so it looks like something is going on on the screen. Third, touch screen user interfaces shown in some movies are nothing new.

The only OS which is a bit revolutionary today when we talk about user interface is iPhoneOS. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (z. vukman) Comments RE: Good Idea http://www.osnews.com/thread?419402 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419402 I could swear the point of computers was to make things easier for us, not harder. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments RE: Comment by Kroc http://www.osnews.com/thread?419408 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419408 I think you hit the nail on the head here. It will take some AI to actually evaluate the nature of the data that we're dealing with, and bring in information from the web to help represent it in order to achieve this goal. But I think we're quite close to having the necessary technology. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (David) Comments RE: Viewer Friendly Interface http://www.osnews.com/thread?419410 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419410 Thank you for that! I've included it in my post. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (danhon) Comments RE: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419412 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419412 The thing that sticks out to me most often besides the random terminal spewing crap that nobody is ever supposed to read are the random bar charts and completely superfluous crap that has absolutely nothing to do with what the person is trying to do. I cannot imagine any universe where being assaulted rapidly by flashing images is representative of actions being performed on a computer.

Oh yeah NÂº1 most irritating thing in movieOS are the stupid beep/buzz noises that happen whenever any action is performed.We have that capability in computers today, just not enabled because,again, it is downright annoying to real people. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (_txf_) Comments RE[2]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419414 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419414 But printing words on the screen is so computational intensive it must make the sound of a dot-matrix printer D: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kroc) Comments RE: Just Two Ideas - good ideas http://www.osnews.com/thread?419417 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419417 Your first makes me think of *nix style systems that provide a very script-able machine level interface and a very pretty human level interface; the inclusion of one not limiting the other. The machine can have full control including changing config files through cli and scripting. The human can have full control including mouse and gestures.

Your second is a very interesting idea also; make the platform aware of files in a more meaningful way. The trick here is including that metadata without it becoming a security risk. This probably means metadata in the file system rather than the file itself. I'm thinking that combined with a localized google search type thing that can generate relevance based on the metadata and behavioral data collected. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE[2]: What we can - what are you talking about? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419418 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419418 My computer totally plays a bootup AVI showing a 3D rendered happy face. And when I get a virus it's always the same; stupid waving 3D fractal display blocking my view of the AV pop-up.. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments Comment by frood http://www.osnews.com/thread?419419 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419419 I've noticed you rarely use a mouse with MovieOS. You want to zoom in on that license plate from a satellite? *tap tap tap*... Rotate the view of a scene taken from a 2D security camera? *tap tap*. They must know some crazy keyboard shortcuts to get that working. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (frood) Comments K-D-EEEEEEEE 4 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419420 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419420 I said it before and I'll say it again; or is it asked before ask again?? Anyways here goes:
why are KDE 4 emulate the KDE3 look and feel? Forget I asked - it's to do with office desktop I get it.

But can someone tell me that there's some attempt(s) to fully use the power of 'everything's a plasmoid' - lie to me if you must

Moving the desktop forward takes time and KDE4 tech seems like a solid place to start don't ya think? Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rebel787) Comments Comment by toblerone http://www.osnews.com/thread?419421 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419421 There is a link to a really interesting paper further down the article ->

http://research.sun.com/techrep/1995/smli_tr-95-33.pdf

loads of deja-vues in there ... Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (toblerone) Comments Comment by frood http://www.osnews.com/thread?419422 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419422 There are some environments that remind me of MovieOS, but they tend to be for specific functions. For example, the Windows Media Center, or the Xbox 360. The iPad too, to a certain extent.

I think the common factor is single tasking. You can afford to be flashy with a task when you know its the only thing the user is wanting to look at. Having a full screen "password" prompt (Matrix 2) or full screen email sending animation (You've got mail) looks great when you're watching it on screen, but holds little practical value in a real multi tasking desktop environment. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (frood) Comments RE: Just Two Ideas http://www.osnews.com/thread?419425 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419425 2) Tracked how much people / computers used files or other data, toward the goal of profiling the difference in importance of a file so that, for example, upon deleting something I spent hours making, my computer could say, "Yeah, you spent hours making this. You sure you want to delete?"

Please don't. The amount of time could be indicative of importance, but doesn't have to be. It would be a shame if the concept for definitive cure for cancer, hastily written down in fifteen seconds on a digital note after a long afternoon of thinking, got deleted without warning, because you didn't spend enough time on it for it to be important.

As a consolation, the horrid pixelstain you produced after three hours of mucking about with a Wacom tablet, while you know you aren't a Van Gogh, won't be accidentally deleted...

It's when a program starts to assume I am doing someting or want something, it starts driving me up the wall. Clippy anyone? Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (r_a_trip) Comments RE: Comment by frood http://www.osnews.com/thread?419428 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419428 They must know some crazy keyboard shortcuts to get that working.

No, don't you know? They just use the "Any Key". Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (r_a_trip) Comments RE[2]: Comment by frood http://www.osnews.com/thread?419431 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419431 MovieOS computers have special keyboards where all keys are any keys and all any keys are bonded to the dwim(x) function. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (olefiver) Comments Comment by ldmosquera http://www.osnews.com/thread?419433 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419433 I generally *LOATHE* those fake UI in movies and series.
No really, I vehemently hate them. When I see one, I hit pause, and I take my time to meticulously ridiculize them.
They're tacky, incoherent, full of bloat, and generally read like random technical concepts ran through a blender. They are evidently the product of visual designer types aiming to include at least 5 o 6 random buzzwords, so as sound "familiar", and thus plausible, to a layman.

With that in mind, David, I'm inclined to disagree with your sentiment that grandiloquent animations can help us understand what's going on.
Feedback doesn't necessarily have to be glittery and eye-catching, like every movie director seems to think. It can be humane, smart and sensible without all the bang and smoke.
In fact, like you said yourself, I think they would make every-day usage painstakingly annoying.
You either aim for sensibilty, or for Hollywoodesque flash. I can't see how you could reconcile that.

Surely the status quo can advance and more suggesting UIs can be developed, but the movies are a definitive counter'example which I *REALLY* hope never influence any real designs.

That's just my $0.02. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ldmosquera) Comments RE[2]: Just Two Ideas http://www.osnews.com/thread?419434 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419434 As long as nothing gets Deleted! by automagic, I see no problem with the idea of the PC knowing the time the user have worked against a textdocument or other file.
If the user decides to delete a random folder with some potentially important based on time spent creating, the system would give a heads up. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (olefiver) Comments RE[2]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419436 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419436 Don't forget how keyboard-intensive MovieOS is. The mouse is hardly used.

MovieOS also seems to make extensive use of passwords and encryption, but is still easily hackable.

I wish the MovieOS image manipulation software would be ported to other platforms. That "zoom and enhance" feature looks very useful. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AaronD) Comments Hey ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?419438 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419438 I know this, This is Unix! Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jibadeeha) Comments Computer Classics http://www.osnews.com/thread?419439 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419439 Computer Movie Classics
--------------------------------------------
1. Raiders of the Lost Sparc
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Build
3. iSparticus
4. Avatar xvf
5. Clash of the Tyans

Classic Computer Literature
--------------------------------------------
1. Insanely Great Expectations
2. The Old Man and the C++
3. A Farewell to Arm7
4. /bin/hur
5. A Room with a Vi

It's Friday!

p.s. Sandra Bullock in "The Net. She can also act! Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:49:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fretinator) Comments RE: Good Idea http://www.osnews.com/thread?419448 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419448 So the files on my computer will be just as disorganized, "lost", and cluttered as my house?!?

No thanks! Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bobthearch) Comments RE: Comment by frood http://www.osnews.com/thread?419460 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419460

Rotate the view of a scene taken from a 2D security camera? *tap tap*

Yupp, I'd also like to know the keyboard combinations for obtaining views of an object from a camera feed that were never recorded. Would make lot of my work easier

Also, the combination that they use when they take a bad resolution reflection from a bad resolution image, and create absolute sharp and content rich zooms from it

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (l3v1) Comments RE[3]: What we can - what are you talking about? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419470 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419470 If you asked me, it would be awesome if the bootup could have some extended animation(like the mouse running in xubuntu; or the happy face of Zer0Cool!)

Also, in financial systems and other data-entry systems like bank telling or casino cashiers, the mouse simply can't be used for it will make the operator to 'go slow' in order to insert and retrieve data. Maybe this principle is used in all this keyboard-driven military applications. Can anyone tell if this is also true in real life?Edited 2010-04-17 03:28 UTC Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (gadget00) Comments RE[3]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419476 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419476

MovieOS also seems to make extensive use of passwords and encryption, but is still easily hackable.

They are not easily hackable, that's the password recovery feature.

Doesn't it suck when you forget your password and get locked out because you provided false data you can't remember?

MovieOS helps and entertains you with a game of hangman and infinite lives. What I don't get is why it always takes the "hacker" so long. He probably is brute-forcing it by typing. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sakeniwefu) Comments RE: Computer Classics http://www.osnews.com/thread?419480 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419480 Oh come on, there's an entire movie called "Solaris" Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DigitalAxis) Comments Meh http://www.osnews.com/thread?419482 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419482 I would like to see operating systems with GUIs from computer games. MovieOS doesn't make sense most of the times. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (neticspace) Comments Christmas on a cracker http://www.osnews.com/thread?419484 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419484 I hope not... Why you ask?

Because the first thing I do in any OS is turn OFF the damned animated bull. I like my operating system to be RESPONSIVE. This means when I click on a menu I want the menu open NOW, not two seconds from now after some goofy animation plays. When I close or minimize a window I want it gone NOW, not two seconds from now after some goofy animation plays... To that end I don't want some giant animated "access granted" page to sit there for 15 seconds, I want the page I'm trying to access to show NOW.

It's this type of thinking that led to Microsoft Bob. To me most of this cutesy graphical bull is like driving with the parking brake on.

But what do I know, I consider windows 98 the pinnacle of UI design and everything since to be steps backwards in functionality.Edited 2010-04-17 05:51 UTC Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (deathshadow) Comments We can learn much from MovieOS http://www.osnews.com/thread?419488 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419488 Mostly that we shouldn't ever let the movie industry design our user interfaces or encryption technologies. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 07:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments RE: Meh http://www.osnews.com/thread?419497 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419497 GUI Like Farmville ? Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (funny_irony) Comments RE: We can learn much from MovieOS http://www.osnews.com/thread?419498 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419498 Agreed

In the movie swordfish, the hacker crack the password while a girl gave him a blow job and the bad guy pointing a gun at his head. If a hacker can crack the password with half the body's blood down under, the password must be "password". Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (funny_irony) Comments RE[4]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419499 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419499 Not easily crack ?
Have you seen the movie "sword fish" ???
The hacker crack the system while a gun is pointing to his head and a girl giving him a blow job. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (funny_irony) Comments RE[2]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419500 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419500

Oh yeah NÂº1 most irritating thing in movieOS are the stupid beep/buzz noises that happen whenever any action is performed.We have that capability in computers today, just not enabled because,again, it is downright annoying to real people.

Oh, really?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=531781 Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wannabe geek) Comments RE[2]: We can learn much from MovieOS http://www.osnews.com/thread?419501 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419501

Agreed

Yeah, and they said it would normally take 60 minutes, so they gave him 60 seconds. Classic

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wannabe geek) Comments Do they still use those silly interfaces? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419502 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419502 I was wondering, as I haven't seen this kind of movies in a while, do they still use those silly interfaces?

I know they wanted to make them look spectacular 15 years ago when computers were still new and the Internet barely hit the media's radar, but nowadays when everybody and their moms has a computer connected to the Internet, do they still try to make computers look impressive? Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Florin.Crisan) Comments RE[3]: Just Two Ideas http://www.osnews.com/thread?419504 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419504 The system should always warn against deletion. Most systems do.

A creation duration indicator could be included, but it won't stop some (most?) people from skipping the reading part and still delete the stuff they wanted to keep.

No amount of coding can guard against nonchalance and computer illiteracy. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (r_a_trip) Comments RE[4]: What we can - mouse has always slowed me http://www.osnews.com/thread?419509 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419509 When I made my money with Excel I'd do anything that kept my hands on the keyboard. The mouse was only a button with variable position for those few functions faster without the keyboard. Custom database forms are also much faster if you can move through by keyboard; the input pages that slowed me down where double-hotkey broken forms. Also, if you can fully control it by keyboard then you can script against it. I can't tell you how fun it is to turn data input into a mostly automated process with your own scripting; reduce twenty fields across multiple ok buttons into two or three. RSI pain is much less also without the mouse twist and reach.

I don't know about real life but my experience is that the mouse is overused and really only appropriate for a few of the tasks it's habitually used for. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE[5]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419520 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419520 1024 bit, no less; using nothing but randomly guessing passwords at a password prompt. Because, as we all know, hackers are really really good at guessing highly improbable things. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kroc) Comments RE: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419539 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419539 Haven't seen too many movies or tv shows, have you? Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (BluenoseJake) Comments RE: Entire movie called Solaris http://www.osnews.com/thread?419542 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419542 That's one heck of a suspenseful drama, too. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 21:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MadRat) Comments RE[6]: What we can learn from "MovieOS"? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419543 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419543 Though truth be told most massive hacks are really just that,or simple social engineering. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 21:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (_txf_) Comments RE: Good Idea http://www.osnews.com/thread?419562 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419562 I remember seeing that type of interface on a C64, it worked great until you want to do something really diffirent.

BBS program - nope.
Special interface program for a slow daisy wheel printer that suffered a buffer over-run if you sent it data too fast - nope.
Ham radio - Morse code - nope.

These types of interfaces are bad for what makes computers really good, being flexible. Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Earl Colby pottinger) Comments Post the coolest TV/Movie OS http://www.osnews.com/thread?419564 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419564 Hi everyone ;-P

Please post the coolest TV/Movie OS you have seen

Then we shall have a vote to for the coolest

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 06:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (funny_irony) Comments Comment by ichi http://www.osnews.com/thread?419609 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419609 Movie OSes are usually good at what they are intended for: giving the potentially computer illiterate audience a clue of what the user is doing.

In real live though, when you are the user you know what you are doing. I mean, if you hit "send mail" you know you are sending an email. That's why you opened the mail client and wrote the email text to begin with, so a full screen animation of a folding letter getting in an envelope might look pretty the first couple of times, but it's unnecessary, annoying and distracting.
Imagine watching that animation 50 times every day at work (and waiting for it to finish so you can continue working).

Same about 3D representations of filesystems. There are working implementations of that already, and guess why no one uses them: they don't improve your workflow, but rather the opposite.

It's like that version of Doom where every monster has a PID over his head, and killing it kills the process. OK, sounds cool, buy why would you want to bother searching a 3D entity in a 3D scenario when you can just "kill PID"? Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ichi) Comments RE: We can learn - well, perhaps interfaces http://www.osnews.com/thread?419642 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419642 I'd let them do the part of the design stage that involved dreaming up the concept. Let the imagination flow without current limitations and all that. Science Fiction has been filling this roll for years.

But, for Baud sake; hand it off to professional designers after that. That's where I'd draw the line. And definitely not with encryption any deeper than the cosmetic gui layer. Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE: Do they still use those silly interfaces? http://www.osnews.com/thread?419679 http://www.osnews.com/thread?419679 Yea, they do. Normally with a blueish glowing interface with stripped lines and interaction with maps to put everything in context for the viewer, and the blue map thing seem to always do a good job. I think I will hack marble to work that way, some day, maybe. Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Elv13) Comments