Field Contribution

Ultimately, my thesis project should contribute to the User Interface and User Experience field in some manner, and I believe it will. My thesis will be exploring the possibilities of manipulating Material Design in a three dimensional context, which is currently limited within the Material Design Guidelines presented by Google.

The video game industry innovates in a multitude of ways, but seldom in the form of interface design. There are certainly some outliers in the context of the video game industry that have presented game information in unique and impressive ways. In general, game interfaces are an effectively two dimensional space where the player navigates basic menu structures to access game information. I believe this can be improved upon by utilizing the three dimensional space a game can present, and by marrying it with Material Design.

Ideally, this combination will present a new method for presenting game information, but it is not solely limited to video games. Virtual reality interfaces and devices are still in their infancy and can be a space that benefits massively from three dimensional interface design. Interactive installations and spaces can also benefit from design interfaces in a three dimensional environment.

If science fiction shows, movies, and books have taught us anything, it is that hologram interactions are in our future, and three dimensional interface design using Material design is on the cusp of reaching that futuristic goal. Being able to manipulate three dimensional shapes that display content are what I plan to explore, and hopefully will influence the coming years of interface design for three dimensional spaces.