Section: Application Domains

Next-generation desktop systems

The term desktop system refers here to the combination of a window system handling low-level graphics and input with a window manager and a set of applications that share a distinctive look and feel. It applies not only to desktop PCs but also to any other device or combination of devices supporting graphical interaction with multiple applications. Interaction with these systems currently rely on a small number of interaction primitives such as text input, pointing and activation as well as a few other basic gestures. This limited set of primitives is one reason the systems are simple to use. There is, however, a cost. Most simple combinations being already used, few remain to trigger and control innovative techniques that could facilitate task switching or data management, for example. Desktop systems are in dire need of additional interaction primitives, including gestural ones.