Really

So, Steve Jobs didn’t announce a surprise Apple-branded Metaverse platform yesterday at the WWDC’07 keynote address. But, what was interesting were some of the new features in the OS. CoverFlow, the 3D browsing mechanism for iTunes, has been promoted as the way to browse through all content on the computer:

(Image Courtesy of Apple)

When describing this feature, Jobs reportedly said: “…it turns out to be INCREDIBLY useful.” One of the arguments I hear often is that, “some tasks are always going to be better in 2D”. Maybe so, but I think once designers start trying to use 3D interfaces, they are likely to stumble upon new ways of doing old tasks (and let’s face it, browsing through a list of files has not really changed a whole lot since the days of DIR C:), that are INCREDIBLY useful.

The “stacks” features, shown on the right side of the screen, is another move towards a more three dimensional way to organize objects (Wired gives some more details and history on this feature). Also, the fact that the dock icons are shown sitting on a shiny floor really starts to hammer home the notion that not only are the buttons, windows, and icons three dimensional, but they are living in a three-dimensional space.

Along with the new iChat features (like video backgrounds), calling virtual desktops spaces, and the fact that major gaming companies are supporting the Mac platform, these new features clearly indicate that Apple is pushing their desktop into the virtual world arena. At the next WWDC, the Mac will be a fully immersive environment, where you control your avatar via the built-in camera, seamlessly moving within Mac “spaces” and to spaces on other Macs, iPhones, and iPods (and even PCs - but they will not look as nice).

One more thing - Ok, maybe there won’t be a Mac Metaverse, but Apple will continue to innovate in their interfaces, in ways that can be adapted to improve interactions in virtual worlds.