PanoTools NG:
Re: new 360cities pano interface, was Re: Opera is annoying was: Re: "From a tower, without the tower"
AYRTON 2009-Jan-12 01:38:46
I completely agree with Pat on hos text below :-)
best
AYRTON
On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Pat Swovelin <#removed#>wrote:
> > A pano can be displayed without any visible controls and the
> > user -- if experienced -- can navigate around and through the
> > pano with just mouse clicks and key presses and not need to
> > click a particular, visible control.
> >
> > But it really would help to have a standard set of gestures and
> > actions that support pano navigation. Such a standard is emerginent.
> > That is, there is a common set of mouse motions and key clicks
> > that we all are sort of centering on.
> >
> > We click/drag the mouse the direction we want our view to move --
> > which is sort of opposite to the way a text editor works. In a
> > text editor the page moves with the mouse. Pano viewers have
> > a unique convention. Similarly, the use of SHIFT/CNTL/MOUSEWHEEL
> > to zoom. The direction or arrow keys have similar functions.
> >
> > Now one gesture that is less familiar is how to turn hotspots ON/OFF.
> > I've used the space bar to toggle hotspots. I think other viewers
> > have also. I use F1/ESC to enter/exit fullscreen mode. I think
> > other viewers have also done this.
> >
> > Pano viewers will eventually center on one common set of gestures
> > and actions for control of the viewing experience.
> >
> > And as panos become more embedded in the common vernacular of web
> > use, these conventions will become more established and familiar
> > to more people. So eventually the idea of having visible controls
> > will become redundant and unnecessary because "everybody" will know
> > how to view a pano.
> >
> > And we will figure out how to introduce the newbie to pano viewing.
> > Maybe a popup that appears after so many seconds of inactivity on
> > the part of the viewer -- I don't know.
>
> Controllers and everything else (*including* autorotation, because to
> the average site visitor it becomes a movie and they simply sit there
> and watch it rendering the pano's interactivity pointless) should be
> turned off by default. There should be an information image centered in
> the pano (that's closed with a single-click) that tells the site visitor
> how to manipulate the panorama with a mouse and directs them to the
> collapsed controller in the bottom-left corner with, if necessary, a
> collapsed map in the top-left corner.
>
> If people continue to put stuff in the way of the image eventually it'll
> be like looking at it through a soda straw *and* if people continue to
> use autorotation the site visitor will be trained to never take control
> of the image and look at the things he/she wants to see.
>
> > But eventually, a convention will be established. This debate is
> > part of the process of establishing that convention.
> >
> > Keith Martin wrote:
> >> Sometime around 7/1/09 (at 11:14 +0100) Jeffrey Martin said:
> >>
> >>
> >>> the VR world has to move past the "single
> >>> fullscreen image with no options" of 5 years ago.
> >>
> >> The absence of visible hotspots and other controls may well SEEM
> >> old-fashioned, but this is a perfectly legitimate approach to pano
> >> display. As is having everything visible, of course! I don't regard
> >> the absence of visible controls as dated, just more traditional.
> >>
> >> This is more of an aesthetic choice that is governed in part by the
> >> publisher's goal for the panos and the site. Most of the time when I
> >> show panos I intend them to be seen as single views with as few
> >> distractions as possible. However, the norm for a tour-oriented
> >> approach would - logically enough - have helpful buttons and other
> >> items on display.
> >>
> >> It is particularly important to note the terminology I just used:
> >> "distractions" and "helpful items" can refer to exactly the same
> >> thing, the only difference being the publisher's intent for the
> >> panoramas.
> >>
> >> ...Okay, also the end user's perception. But when someone wants to
> >> take a virtual tour they probably won't want to hunt for controls,
> >> whereas when they want to look at a single pano at a time, not as
> >> part of a spatially connected set, they probably won't want to have
> >> controls covering any part of the image.
> >>
> >> Thus, if the visitor's perception of the site and how they want to
> >> use it is the same as the publisher's, their preference for seeing or
> >> not seeing controls will probably be aligned.
> >>
> >> So no, the world doesn't have to move on - we just need to recognise
> >> that there are aesthetic requirements to consider.
> >>
> >> Having said all this, I do feel, personally, that the arrows are a
> >> little more obtrusive than I'd like. But defaulting to having them
> >> hidden would probably mean many people won't ever see them or take a
> >> virtual tour through a city.
> >>
> >> Would it be possible to have them much fainter initially but bring
> >> them up to their current opacity level after a certain length of time
> >> (such as 2 seconds) with no user interaction?
> >>
> >> k
> >>
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
>
>
> --
> Pat Swovelin
> Cool Guy @ Large
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> --
>
>
>
>
--
------------
| A Y R |
| T O N |
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http://ayrton360.com
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http://vrfolio.com
http://ayrton.com
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