Automatic design and layout of 3D user interfaces

Abstract

The production of 3D user interfaces is complicated by the wide range of input and output devices used in 3D applications and the lack of software tools for their production. A 3D user interface that works well with one particular set of input and output devices could fail when another set of devices is used. To solve this problem the Grappl system automatically generates 3D user interfaces at run time. This paper presents the programmer interface to Grappl and some of the techniques used in its implementation. An important part of this process is placing user interface and application objects in 3D space. This is achieved by using policy techniques to automate the layout process. This paper presents some of the features and techniques that have been used in policy implementation, including relative position policy and grouping policy, with a few example applications. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.