Microsoft 2019 Vision, now on Silverlight (with Source Code)

Posted by Rishi on 02-Apr-09 2:24 PM - Comments (17)

Tags: nroute, future, microsoft vision 2019, demo | Categories: General, nRoute, Technology

Ok firsthand, let me qualify the title that this is "part of the vision". Now, you might have seen this great video of Microsoft's Vision for 2019 of what software and hardware might look like, and how we might interact with it in the future. It is really fascinating stuff, especially for a technology and UX enthusiast like myself. Anyway so, I wanted to create a demo app for my shiny new framework (which you can read up on other posts), and I kinda thought the kind of interactivity in the video is what my framework is all about - so I went out to replicate the UI using my little framework called nRoute.

Here are a couple of snapshot of the original UI, I referenced:

I created the demo app with Blend 2 and Visual Studio 2008 (no Illustrator or Photoshop) in about 2 days - faster than I though I would. However, my work is rather preliminary, as I want to really develop on these concepts with Silverlight 3 and all the goodness that it brings. In fact, with the Silverlight 3 version of this app, I plan to feature much more of visuals shown in the original video (hello perspective 3D and multi-touch). Below are some grabs of my interpretation:

Currently the application is very light on content, as it was primarily designed to showcase the technical marvels of the nRoute Framework ;) but given some time and inclination I think we can have a little piece of the future rather soon.

To run the demo click here (uses Silverlight 2) and for the source code visit http://nRoute.codeplex.com. BTW, I call this app the "Future Desktop".

UPDATE: for those technically inclined, this post goes over the nRoute-related features showcased in this demo app

nRoute Resource Locator Framework (Part I)As the name Resource Locator Framework (RLF) suggests the idea is to locate resources and functional...Introducing nRoute.Toolkit for Silverlight (Part I)nRoute Toolkit is basically a packaging of some components from the next drop of nRoute - I thought ...nRoute Resource Locator Framework (Part II) : A Sample AppFollowing up on Part I which described the workings of the Resource Locator Framework (RLF), in this...

Comments (17) -

thenonhacker

on 28-Feb-09 4:15 PM

Cool demo, but if you want greater accuracy to the Vision Demo:

Change all fonts you used for text to: Segoe UI.

Avoid using any other font like Arial or Trebuchet MS.

Rishi
on 01-Mar-09 2:03 AM

@thenonhacker, I did that on purpose because I did not want to embed any fonts, so I was partically limited to fonts that come embedded.. further I even avoided the portable font as it renders differently across systems which can be really jarring..

And to be honest, as somebody who appreciates good fonts (love SegoeUI) I was so frustrated that I could have punched somebody ;)

Robert M

on 02-Mar-09 10:06 PM

That's very impressive, like a giant iPhone.

And I bet in-the-future it will all be run on a scroll of light emitting plastic; just like in Star Trek

Oh, and by 2019, Silverlight will support features like the microphone, webcam and scroll wheel. As if?

Cheers.

Rishi
on 03-Mar-09 3:39 AM

@Robert, thanks. Yeah by 2019 we will have support for microphones, webcam, scroll wheel but printing support will a forthcoming feature. Oh and we will be programming exclusively for rounded corner screens!

on 03-Mar-09 4:50 PM

Are you trying to develop this as your own operating system? This would be amazing. Have you thought about creating a web service similair to this? Is there anything even close to this today that's like an add on or 3rd part app?

Rishi
on 04-Mar-09 12:06 AM

@Me, No I am not trying to make an OS, but I was trying to use this an example of what kind of experiences can be afforded with the framework I created. However, I am inclined to take this example further and implement more of the future-oriented visuals shown, it can be done what would be missing is the cool hardware. Also, I am not sure any 3rd party add-on or app directly attempts creating this theme, however if you wanted to use this just download the source and repurpose it for your use.

Sree

on 07-Mar-09 9:35 AM

how can I download the source code

Rishi
on 07-Mar-09 8:03 PM

@Sree, the source code is at http://nroute.codeplex.com/ check under the releases tab. You might need a reference to the nRoute assembly, which is also available at codeplex.

floridaenterprise

on 12-Mar-09 4:43 PM

Hmmmph.

For sourcecode, you should probably just go to the homepage of Starfleet Academy.

This is thinly disguised LCARS.

Rishi
on 12-Mar-09 10:20 PM

@floridaenterprise, and you must be Capt. Kirk setting up an enterprise in florida, I suppose..

mike

on 09-May-09 10:28 PM

Entire windows now on Silverlight. See www.windows4all.com

Rishi
on 11-May-09 10:39 PM

@Mike, cool stuff.. though it needs some fine touches such as gradients and stuff.. Still I'll say this WPF/SL's vector based graphics have a chunkiness about them which really limits their use, like in your attempt. I wish they had the finesse of Win32, and were a bit more performant in terms of the interaction fluency. Good work though.

Matt

on 17-May-09 1:34 AM

Thank you for this great post!

on 26-Mar-10 4:02 AM

I love the layout. I'm not seeing a link for the source up at

http://nroute.codeplex.com/releases/view/37884

Great post and good walkthrough in the other article.

Rishi
on 26-Mar-10 12:37 PM

@SO Thanks, the source is available at http://nroute.codeplex.com/releases/view/25622

Though remember this is an earlier version of nRoute, new version will be out within days.

website design

on 09-Apr-12 11:11 PM

WPF/SL's vector based graphics have a chunkiness about them which really limits their use, like in your attempt. I wish they had the finesse of Win32, and were a bit more performant in terms of the interaction fluency. Good work though.