When will Cyberspace be 3D (Or will it ever)?

The interface of the internet (in it's current form) is unapologetically set in 2 dimensions. The visual interface (screens, and rightly so) are flat, but the UI that breathes within it is also extraordinarily flat. Moreover, the devices we use to interface with screens are exceptionally binary and consist of little options past the binary of a screen tap, key press or mouse click. This is kind of weird to me, as a long-sighted human being and one that is very aware that humans are capable of dexterity between the binary of the internet interfaces. Sure, it's simple and elegant, but these days it's even primitive. The internet and information devices have so much depth and computers have so many functions that it would make sense to argue that we're going to start running out of things to do with the function or CTRL key. 

For example, in PC video games your option for controlling the speed of a moving character are essentially "move" and "don't" move, "crawl" or "sprint." I understand that not everyone uses computers for video games, but why isn't there more of an option? Why can't the depth of a press relate to the speed of the character? 

Keyboards are large. By now I would have thought that keyboard companies would have found ways to make their keyboards smaller without sacrificing the functionality of it; Imagine if each key of your physical keyboard had a screen that could change the layout of the keyboard itself? Or, depending how far someone pushed down a key, they changed to auxiliary functions like emoji keyboards, different character keyboards or a number pad like on a phone touch-keyboard? Maybe the staggered rows would create an issue there, but imagine that. You could create a universal keyboard model that anyone could type on, and switch to any language as need be. I think it would be revolutionary. 

Of course keyboard companies would hate that. I hope Apple does something like this at some point, they've already gotten started with the touchscreen above the keyboard. Call me, Apple. 

Another issue I take with the mouse and keyboard is the inherent inequality of it. Nevermind QWERTY or QWERTZ versus DVORAK, the fact that you have to use a mouse, or a touchpad with one hand at certain times and type with the other is just absurd. It's almost as if one can't speak and move in the internet at the same time. Why aren't we able to do both, and with whatever hand we want? Why does motion and movement have to be limited to one hand? Touch screens go a long way to fix the issue, but it's still absurd. 

It's interesting to see how far the internet has developed since it's early days; the 2010s internet is a far different, arguably more mature place than it was in the 2000s. 

Incidentally, Apple has also been innovating in the screen technology arena with "force touch." How successful that is is up for debate, it's difficult to implement something that creates depth when your pushing against a hard material. But imagine if screens used a soft, pressable materiel, where motion and action were possible to be distinguished as separate actions. You might find that redundant, but it could open up a whole world of depth within the phone screen. 

Phones are not designed ergonomically at all, but they're often not even designed with the human hand in mind. Such is the case in 2019 where phones are all of a sudden MASSIVE, and essentially the size of the phablets we were mocking a couple years ago. Mine only has a 5.5 inch display (though a significant chin and forehead) and width that makes it so I can barely hold it in my hand! But even then, you can't press every corner of the screen when you're holding it your hands, and in fact, as phones get thinner and thinner, it becomes harder to hold them because your hands are not flat against the back of the phone!!!

Uggghhh. 

My point being. The future of the internet is in tactile screens and tactile keyboards, or rather, in better interfaces for humans to interact with the web. Now that VR is far more widely supported, demanded, the hardware is better, and games like Boneworks and Half-Life: Alyx continue to push the envelope of what can be done with VR and what it can be, people are going to start demanding better hardware. The headsets are there, I don't know about the controllers though. But I wouldn't be surprised to expect an HCI revolution in the not so distant future. Gesture control, Kinect, the original Wii. It's been done before. As development stagnates for other aspects of phone hardware, expect to see advanced interfacing to be the upcoming trend of 2020. The Google Pixel 4 tried it with gesture control. And failed. But don't think for a second that that's going to be the end of it. 

The irony of this whole article is that I'm writing all of this on the very archaic instruments I'm decrying; a mechanical keyboard and a mouse, with the touchscreen of my laptop propped up to my left as a second screen. But Imma have to keep using then until something better shows itself. Happy 2020 everyone!! Here's hoping to a new age of innovation, and for the internet's next stage of evolution.