The New York Times has a story on a new (very expensive) gadget that creates a 3D video display. Entitled "Virtual Home Theater Promises Immersion and Fits on Your Head," the article talks about its use for people who want to watch a presentation or movie, but this isn't so much what strikes me about it. Gnome has and is working on what they call "spacial" metaphors for file management, and there is lots of talk about 3D interfaces, especially in science fiction. Short of a true Star Trek® style hologram, this offers really what seems to me to be the first viable way to really go 3D; imagine what that could mean for computer desktops, organizing your work flow. We'd need some other pointer type device naturally, a mouse wouldn't make much sense in 3D, perhaps a way to tell what a person is focusing on, or something similar. It would probably confuse many users at first, but for those of us who are used to multiple monitors and/or multiple work spaces, this would be an interesting advancement.
