BOSTON – Futuremark Corp. is hoping to topple the bar set by Apple Inc.’s iPhone by taking the mobile user interface into the third dimension. The software company announced a new graphics software engine, dubbed Kanzi, that it said will allow handset makers to develop “visually stunning 3D user interfaces” as a way to differentiate and dominate.
Futuremark’s release comes amid the handset industry’s headlong rush into the brave, new touchscreen world, where users’ ease of interfacing is paramount. Though the handset UI has long been an area of significant investment for gadget makers, the remarkable success of Apple Inc.’s iPhone – along with heightened competition from both entrenched and upstart players – has served to amplify the market’s pursuit of the so-called “user experience.”
And a first look at Futuremark’s attempts in the UI field show notable results. Indeed, the software company’s efforts earned Futuremark a featured spot on a keynote presentation by Texas Instruments’ Marcelo Vieira. Vieira, general manager of the chipmaker’s OMAP application processor business unit, gave the presentation during the Mobile Internet World trade show here.
(Not coincidentally, Futuremark’s Kanzi software was running on TI’s OMAP 3 processor in the presentation.)
Though Vieira cautioned that Futuremark’s Kanzi-based user interface was “built as a proof of concept” and was “not intended to go into production,” the goals of the effort were nonetheless obvious:
1. To highlight the possibilities provided by TI’s OMAP processor;
2. And to show off Futuremark’s software and design skills, as well as the potential of the company’s new 3D animation engine.
So what was the result?
TI’s Vieira showed a minute’s worth of video of a 3D user interface designed by Futuremark. Though brief, the video showed menu options such as “media” and “calendar” divided among futuristic, flat-screen panels attached to a revolving, 3D ball that the user could manipulate with a swipe across a touchscreen.
The still-photos portion of the UI was presented like a layered film strip running from the background to the foreground of the screen, and the user could pull a photo from the strip by touching it.
A calendaring portion of the interface pulled months from a 3D representation of what appeared to be a year’s worth of dates, and touching each date produced that day’s worth of activities.
Overall, the interface featured smooth, rich, 3D animations that moved the user from one menu location to the next, and provided a feeling of depth generally found in Pixar movies, not handsets.
“This is where a lot of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are putting a lot of time and energy,” Vieira said.
Futuremark is offering Kanzi for licensing to manufacturers of mobile, automotive and consumer electronics devices.
