Apple aiming to bring 3D UI elements to the iOS

[dgstorm]

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With all the innovations the iOS has brought to the world, one can’t help but notice that overall the operating system hasn’t really changed much since it was first released in 2007. This dogma is already shifting with the arrival of iOS 6 which brings in some pretty neat new changes like the auto-titling sliders. A new rumor suggests that the future will bring even more changes.

Benjamin Jackson of Buzzfeed claims his sources told him that Apple is thinking of adding 3D UI elements to the future iOS version. Sure, that makes sense, 3D has become increasingly popular amongst the population. We have 3D movies, 3D games, 3D simulations – why not have a 3D iOS as well?

“One Apple employee (who I can’t name as the company does not allow employees to speak on the record without approval from media relations) said that in the future, your phone will show drop shadows based on the actual position of the light in the room, as detected by the phone’s ambient sensor — and everything in the UI will be rendered in 3D on the fly.”

Bringing 3D to the iOS might add an extra dose of reality to the interface elements. The system would basically scan and track available light sources in order to create the 3D objects. Nevertheless current iDevices are incapable of achieving something similar at the moment because their light sensor is only able to detect incidental light and not directional light. The current theory states that a marriage between a gyroscope, an accelerometer and an ambient light sensor might do the trick. We’ll just have to wait and see.

By Radu

Source: Apple reportedly looking into 3D iOS UI elements based on ambient light