Aurora: Concept Video Part 1
by Jesse James Garrett
This video is best viewed in high definition. To view at 1280×720, press play, then click the HD button, then zoom to full screen and turn scaling off.
Welcome to the future — well, one possible future, anyway.
This is Part 1 of Aurora, a concept video created by Adaptive Path in partnership with Mozilla Labs. With Aurora, we set out to define a plausible vision of how technology, the browser, and the Web might evolve in the future by depicting that experience in a variety of real-world contexts.
The release of Aurora is part of the launch of Mozilla Labs’ browser concept series, an ongoing initiative to encourage designers and developers to contribute their own visions of the future of the browser and the Web. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be releasing more video segments, as well as background material showing just what went into imagining the future of the Web and translating that into a video.
Wednesday night, join us at the Adaptive Path offices here in San Francisco to celebrate the release of Aurora and get an advance look at some of the video segments before they’re released. Also, at Adaptive Path’s UX Week next Friday, we’ll be presenting a case study about the project. There are still a few seats available — use promotional code “BLOG” for a 10% discount.
Tomorrow on the Adaptive Path blog: How do you predict the future?
Credits for Part 1
Written and Directed by Jesse James Garrett
Producer: Julia Houck-Whitaker
Assistant Director: Teresa Brazen
Photography: Jean-Philippe Dobrin
Animation and Video Production by Whiskytree
Browser User Experience
Lead Designer: Jesse James Garrett
Design and Technology Advisor: Dan Harrelson
Visual Design: Kumi Akiyoshi and Sebastian Heycke
Production Support: Judd Morgenstern and Lin Lin
Web Page Design
New York Times: Andy Rutledge and Angela Conlon, Unit Interactive
National Weather Service: Dave Shea
Personal Weather Station: Alexa Andrzejewski
Cast
Jill: Danielle Thys
Alan: Byron Lambie
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August 4th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
[...] Concept video: Part 1 - Design themes (the four major themes or high-priority elements of the browser) - Inside the [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Did you design this for any specific input device in mind? The navigation looks like a mess of mystery meat when using a mouse. Still, there’s something about the UI that takes me back to some adventure game from LucasArts I’ve long since forgotten.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:28 am
[...] Path has created a concept video for Aurora, their vision of a possible future user experience on the web. Aurora is part of Mozilla [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
An ergonomic nightmare. 10 minutes of user testing would determine this is a horrible direction to take things.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
It’s nice to see temporal space used for organization. It is a little busy. Hiding and revealing based on context might help.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
will there be any beta testing on this any time soon?
August 5th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I’m surprised in a negative way. I don’t find this is any easy, intuitive or innovative of an interface. The future won’t be like this I’m sure.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
[...] first reaction upon viewing this video was that it was really neat and a lot of hard work must have been put into it. As a fantasy [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
[...] specializzata in consulenza e sviluppo per le più importanti applicazioni web. Battezzato Aurora (vedi il video), il progetto viene sviluppato in collaborazione con i Mozilla Labs, e si concretizza in un [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 3:18 am
[...] Watch Part 1 [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 6:03 am
Talk about the tool getting in the way of the job, What the hell was that mess?
Look I’ll give you a big hint. There is a decent percentage of people out there who suffer from a tendency towards “simulation sickness”. ( http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/08/11/sim_sickness/index.html ) and the swooping menus and constantly shifting icon locations are every bit as bad as a round of any first person shooter for inducing the sick “I want to vomit” feeling.
Additionally, who actually likes having to search for their icons every time? I want to put my frequently used stuff in one place and have it stay there so I could click it if I were suddenly struck blind. “Swoopy” and “zoomy” effects may seem like nice eye candy but I’d rather get some work done and not be made sick while trying to run programs or find information.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:16 am
[...] Future Browser Concept Posted on August 6, 2008 by Björn Brockmann Adaptive Path has released a concept of a possible future web experience. This is the first part (3 more to come) of the video explaining the concept. The concept introduces some interesting ideas for collaborating with people, for interacting with web content and for managing your bookmarks and history. Visually I think the interface has to evolve to less cluttered one. Take a look for yourself on Adaptive Path`s aurora website. Click on the image to view the video at vimeo in hd Aurora is Adaptive Path`s contribution to the concept series of Mozilla Labs. An initiative to sprak new lines of thought in the browser and web development. via Adaptive Path Blog [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 8:39 am
This is brilliant–wonderful how you can see nascent interface elements (Apple dock/stack; “accelerated” click and drag scrolling through icons; expanded/exploded desktop views) all thrown into one impressively seamless package.
The one thing that I found the most lacking, the most unoriginal, however, was the radial menu: we have four quadrants that balloon out only to give you a choice of–six options represented by the same small white circle? If there’s anything we can say about massing functions graphically, it’s that each should have a distinctive and intuitive symbol to represent it. Further, I’d like to see that radial menu broken down into global functions–those which you can do anywhere, to everything–and increasingly context specific.
Either way, can’t wait to see more videos.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:39 am
[...] the blog. » Filed under Interaction Design by rahulsen79 at 17:39. back to [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
A little misunderstanding. Future does not mean making things more complicated, at least in my opinion. It probably should be the other way around.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:06 am
“This is too complicated”, “I’m dizzy”… Well BOOHOO. How about providing some _usable_ input, i.e., what would you require from a next generation browser? I think the majority of people is sick and tired of these internet bullies putting down every new idea published…
August 7th, 2008 at 9:02 am
If I can’t for the life of me figure out what is going on by watching someone use the system, how on earth do you expect someone to be able to figure this out? It’s not natural at all.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I think there are some nice ideas here, particularly the widgets that allow for data sharing and data transformations, as well as the ability to group object types, but as I wrote in more detail on my blog, I share some of the concerns about the radial control and what the ergonomic experience would be to interact with this type of browser.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
This sorts of of looks like a scene in the Movie “Johnny Mnemonic” with Keanu Reeves (Neo, From the Matrix) when in order to access the web he puts on this special gloves and and goggles then everything from the web is displayed as a hologram right in front of him.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
The video doesn’t work for me, what plugin do I need?
August 8th, 2008 at 1:45 am
OMG! If anyone can made this project mozilla will do!
Congratulations for starters planning the concept.
Aurora would start a new generation of web surfing, and community building, and overall browsing
August 8th, 2008 at 6:59 am
As an elementary school librarian, technology teacher, is this browser something a kid can easily use? I don’t think so based on the first video. I require 1st and 2nd graders to access the Internet and this browser, as shown in the video, would be impossible for some of our kids to use.
I tend towards making things easy and intuitive to use, so I agree with those who wrote that it is too busy, too much in front of a user.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:42 am
[...] across this video on Adaptive Path’s website that shows one vision for the future of browsing. There are some nifty ideas here, particularly the [...]
August 8th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Hi!
I LOVE the concept! I don´t think it´s complicated at all. I think it´s nice and easy to use. Imagine this with a multitouch display; it´d be heaven!
August 8th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Well it seems to have some nice ideas but still i think it as too much information perhaps the spacial view system that is showned here could be like the one on Johnny Mnemonic,when we have 3d applications but with simple view system like a ball or a cube, like the htc touch menu system, this would be more easy too follow and wouldnt create so much confusion as it is showened there. As to the themes well the sky is the limit we can do anything with it its great, but tools must be given to make the programming and design for it. I dont think this browser is easy to use as i said before its confusing it needs lots of work, it should be simpler, the 3D is a nice idea, the iphone/htctouch systems of passing pages and interface are examples to take into acount, the interface should be integrated into a simpler form so we can get the info we need without having to think a lot, geometrical shapes are a solution, or a simple 3d menu with icons grouped…
Conclusion: Good ideas, nice concept specially the spacial 3d view, but its complicated to the regular user, its not intuitive the interface is messy, get a look at htc touch diamond interface or iphone, change the way info of a page is showened get a look at the piclens style of showing videos and images, make something like that you allready have the technology. So improve the interface and make it simpler but with a new 3d system and you will get a winner.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I like what i have seen in Aurora: concept vid 1.
It would be cool if you turn this in to a bootable os enviroment like windows, mac os & linex but for any device type.
Passing of a peace of data on a users screen to a frinds screen should only involve a user draging the page to the frinds avatar(like a desktop waste bin in any current os) then a copy is sent to the frind.
August 14th, 2008 at 8:48 am
[...] 第1部分 | 第2部分 | 第3部分 | 第4部分 [...]
August 16th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
I am sure everything would be possibly adjustable, like what stays where (frequently used objects) and the radial balloon menu (why can’t it have 5 or 6 elements? or even more, and color coded). The idea of making everything into objects is clever. That’s how the world works around us. Look at anyone’s bed table, the most personal widget-like space humans have. A gathering of useful tools, clock, phone, pictures, medicine, books, keys, notes, that’s what we use everyday. If I look at “non-geek” users desktops, it’s a mess, a non-organized space. Time sets things around as they get downloaded or used. The folder metaphor is hard to get for many users. When we store something in the real world, we do not put it into a box, than into another box and into another box, we display and arrange things around… But some of us, also like to have things classified, like bookmarks, photos and things related to events, themes or people, so I wonder how a tree structure view could be done here.
One thing I find weird is having to face the past. To me the past is behind. I would prefer to step back in time slice by slice in a similar way as how the dashboard appears in my Mac OS, from the back, so I get a feeling that I am actually moving forward as I work, or backward as I “step back” in time. Reminds me of the Plurk timeline, which to me again goes the “wrong way”. Past is left and/or behind, future is ahead and/or right.
Last question is about that 3D input device. Is working without the elbow touching the desk comfortable for the back, or does it have some kind of force feedback similar to some systems used in gaming allowing my shoulder and back to rest?
August 17th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I still think the use of such interface and technological usability is 2 years at min and 5 years at max away, coz system is constrained by bandwidth and authentication mechanism.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
[...] Read in detail at Adaptive Path. [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Welcome to the future!!!
We are hoping
August 19th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
[...] web browser and human interaction with it. It’s called Aurora, you can watch these videos Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, to understand the [...]
August 21st, 2008 at 12:24 am
>When we store something in the real world, we do not put it into a box, than into another box
We do, actually.
You’d be surprised to find your toilet bowl in the “kitchen” folder.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
here’s my thinking. What would work best for the internet would be all the same functionality, but the browser should start learning what you do most, and give you quick access to those functions. Also, there should be a quick search function, which works to help you find what you want very quickly. if you know what you want to find then you should be able to find it very fast, especally for the arguement piece where every second waisted is points against your evidince. But good thinking on the interface in 3d. too bad it is in clusters, because that only causes it harder to find what you want. maybe something like a 3d grid/desktop organizer or something would work very nicely. that would allow for history to be displayed as in this consept yet it won’t be cluttered.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:27 am
[...] video tiene cuatro partes (1, 2, 3 y 4), que además pueden apreciarse mejor en alta resolución (1, 2, 3 y 4). Lo que ven [...]
August 24th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
[...] conmueve Aurora, el iPhone, la semántica nueva, los móviles, feeds, las nuevas del.icias y los twitts que cantan [...]
August 25th, 2008 at 4:44 am
This video makes me think to some mind-mapping application designed for browsers.
Very nice work, can’t wait to install it…
August 25th, 2008 at 5:25 am
[...] Plusieurs vidéos ont ainsi été publiées pour expliquer les différents concepts fonctionnels et d’IHM de ce navigateur du futur : Aurora Concept Video Part 1. [...]
September 1st, 2008 at 3:19 am
Looks sleek …. but :
I dont want to wait 2 seconds so the little animated ball can move from the right side to the left side after i clic.
I dont want to wait 2 secondes watching the clouds of clusters animated on my screen after i type a search item.
Basically i am not on a computer to watch animation. Im here to have results.