Three-dimensional gui windows with variable-speed perspective movement

Abstract

A three-dimensional graphical user interface is provided wherein the windows have a “thickness” property. In the preferred embodiment, a window will have a Z plane position (z) and a Z plane thickness (cz) as well as the traditional x, cx, y and cy. This allows positioning anywhere in three dimensional space. Using either a three axis mouse or a conventional mouse with supplemental control (perhaps keyboard), each axis may be traversed to navigate the desktop. As the pointer moves along an axis, the user's point of view can change, bringing the view either closer/farther/left/right, depending on the direction of motion, which may cause the windows perspective to change, e.g., larger or smaller. The user's perspective can pass into and through the window-blocks. As the user moves through a window-block, the mouse mickey ratio changes so that, while the cursor position or user viewpoint might change relatively rapidly in “empty space,” it would change more slowly when the user's perspective or the cursor is moving through a solid window-block, thus making the window-block seem more substantial.