The modern interface that users are now expecting
Today’s multi-touch devices and their diverse user base have led to a complete redesign on the traditional User Interface (UI). There is a new emphasis on intuituve ease of use. A grandfather and his grandson can both pick up an iPhone and instantly begin using it. Geoweb3d’s innovative interface provides the same ease-of-use. The overwhelming series of buttons, dialogs, and configurations with a thick users guide is a thing of the past.
Contextual User Interface
The Geoweb3d interface is based upon usage patterns. That means it is contextual and presents the user with minimal components that automatically change based upon what the user is doing.
Components of the UI
Shelf
The shelves in Geoweb3d can be defined as a logical grouping of like components. For example, when the user selects an image from the table of contents, only that information and those controls that are associated with an image are presented for the user. Those compononents are further refined based upon if the user is viewing a 3D tab, a web page, or an optional ArcGIS tab.
It can be thought of as a hybrid of ribbons from Microsoft and coverflow made popular by Apple.
It is an interface that will remain effective regardless of available screen real estate.
With a tap of the spacebar or a click of a button, the user can quickly fold it away or restore.
Tabs
The interface makes use of tabs as the mechanism to manage concurrent views or applications such as 3D views and web pages. There is no limit to the number of tabs a user can use.
Table of Contents
The currently selected item, together with the open tab (3D, Web, or optionally ArcGIS) controls which shelf of components is displayed. Items can be dragged into groups and there is a context menu for each.
It is shared across all views eliminating data redundancy and making it easy to view your project in many different ways. Layers can be instantly turned on and off with checkboxes, letting the user switch on and off alternate appearances of the source data.
Attribute Mapping
Example 1 – Trees
A Shapefile of trees can visualized as 3D models, with a field of tree type guiding which 3D model to use and a field of height, guiding model scale. Alternatively a user could visual this dataset as colored cylinders with tall red ones indicating which ones are scheduled for removal.
Example 2 – Buildings
A geodatabase layer of building footprints can visualized as extruded polygons with height coming from a field of the feature. Colors can be derived from building use, square footage, number of floors, or others.
Identify Features
Users can select features in the 3D scene and view attributes. There is a visual indication of what the user selects. Both the selection itself as well as the highlighting can be disabled.
It is configurable to select only the closest feature or all features. The selected item can be modified interactively in appearance.
Dockable Windows
Each of the separate windows comprising the user interface is dockable. They can be detached and remain independent or dragged onto another display for example.
They can be redocked in any other location about the interface providing almost limitless layout options. Windows can be removed and restored on demand making effective use of real estate.
Style Sheets
Style sheets are a mechanism to change the visual appearance of widgets. It allows users to customize the look and feel of the application to their preference. Inspired by Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) of html, this styling allows ofr
Users will find the GUI very easy and intuitive to use without having to sacrifice the ability to control and adjust almost any element of the visualization.
