Mozilla Aurora
Group 5
Maria Betermueller, Ashley White, Jessica Barnett
Key Words: Natural Interaction, Content Awareness, Continuity, & Multi-user Application
Mozilla Aurora is a futuristic concept browser that gives a different outlook on today’s technology. Aurora helps interact with the business and industrial world. It looks at today’s technological trends in real-world scenarios. Aurora is a hands-on, virtual experience. This specific web browser shifts the center of attention from the entire web page down to a specific object or activity. Aurora can benefit the business world by cutting the down time of information exchange, increasing effective communication, and increasing simplicity within the business atmosphere.
Jesse James Garrett and his team at Adaptive Path, from San Francisco, California were the brains behind this operation. Adaptive Path then took their idea to Mozilla’s research lab and it was built from there. The team included Garrett from Adaptive Path, Alex Faaborg, David Shea, Chris Glass, and Alexa Andrezjewski, from Mozilla, who all helped design the layout, and Jamais Cascio, a local futurist who also contributed. Garrett’s initial vision of Aurora was to create a futuristic browser that provides fewer complications and a more natural interaction with the web. These elements make the browsing experience easier and more intuitive.
An entire decade has passed since we have seen any real change in the browsing environment. Aurora gives us this much-needed advancement to support the other technological movements in our everyday lives. With the hand-held joystick device, which you incorporate as your mouse, you can grab, drag, and drop your frequently used objects. Aurora is based around four distinct elements, these include: content awareness, natural interaction, continuity, multi-user applications. Content awareness can find patterns in searches and types of programs you use. The natural interaction aspect of Aurora wants to give you the most “real world” view as possible, while you are searching the web. Continuity gives consistency in the browser, no matter what device you are using, whether it is a desktop computer, mobile device, or a touch screen. The multi-user applications allow users to collaborate simultaneously within a single webpage.
Aurora is set apart from the normal web browsers by using four main aspects that “box in” your browser. The top horizontal menu is called the Shelf. It consists of your frequently used objects. The left vertical menu, known as the History Stack, is your browser history in reverse chronological order. The User Stack, which is the right vertical menu, is a temporary storage space. It is much like your “Favorites” or “Bookmarks” on browsers used today. Your bottom horizontal menu, called the Wheel, is all applications that you are actively using. This goes right along with the toolbar in Microsoft Windows.
Next, is the Spatial View. This is a three-dimensional view that includes all of your programs and files, including new and old. These files are placed in partial chronological order. The recently used files are placed up front and fully visible, and the infrequently used files and programs are placed to the back, partially visible. On top of the chronologic order, Aurora also puts related programs and topics in small groups, called clusters. These clusters are easily accessible in the Spatial View. The four main menus that are on all four sides of the screen are still visible in this view as well. This includes finding an older file that you have not accessed in while, and putting it in your User Stack. The Wheel, at the bottom of the screen, also is very helpful in this view. As you scroll across the activities that you are currently using, the specific activities that approach the center of the Wheel, Aurora automatically brings up the related clusters to the front of the browser screen. These applications make Aurora less stressful and more convenient web browser.
Aurora can have numerous positive outcomes in today’s business environment. First, Aurora can cut the down time of information exchange. It makes working on business projects around the world a much simpler task. Aurora allows users to combine data or collaborate thoughts in real time. Users can send files and web pages to other users instantly. Aurora allows users to combine multiple web pages into one to compare the data. Next, it can increase effective communication between family, friends, and business partners. Aurora has instant messaging as well as web conferencing technology. Finally, Aurora can increase simplicity in business world. For example, instead of having numerous programs being used in a board room to make a presentation, everything would be done within Aurora. You would still have multiple applications running at once, but they would all be in one browser, rather than having applications from separate programs.
Mozilla Aurora gives businesses the possibility to do things they have never done before, such as international trade or web conferencing. The possibilities for Aurora are endless! Aurora can create competitive advantages for business that have never had the opportunity to be a leader in their industry.
Before Mozilla put their new project, Aurora, on the market they let civilians and experts test the product. The researchers received many compliments and insults concerning their work. Many people like the idea of a new browser in this day and age. However, many users did not like the main concept of Aurora. Users commented that they did not care for the fact that, “if you don’t use it, it goes away.” Some other people commented about the clusters, they said “this limits and reduces our individuality, we can have similar interests, but there is no need to put us all in a specific group because we are not exactly alike, only similar.”
Aurora is a revolutionary web browser that changes the way people interact with each other and the business world. It can give a competitive advantage and increase efficiency within their organization. Aurora is a new advancement in browsing technology, there many steps to take to complete this development. The researchers are continuing to take comments and suggestions to improve this concept browser. It will be interesting to see how this software will affect our everyday lives.
“With Aurora, we set out to define
a plausible vision of how technology, the browser, and the Web might evolve in
the future by depicting that experience in a variety of real-world
contexts.” - Jesse James Garret at
Adaptive Path
References
Bentley, L. (2008). Aurora: Mozilla’s Next-Generation Browser. IT Business Edge. Retrieved on November 14, 2008, from http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/osb/?p=428
Garrett, J. J. (2008). Aurora: Concept Video. Adaptive Path. Retrieved on November 11, 2008, from http://www.adaptivepath.com/aurora/
Levine, B. (2008).
Mozilla’s Aurora Shows Concepts for Future Browsers. News Factor Retrieved on November 11,
2008, from http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61178&full_skip=1
Rapoza, J. (2008). Mozilla
Aurora: The Browser for the Next Web. Emerging
Technologies. Retrieved on November
11, 2008, from http://etech.eweek.com/content/web_technology/mozilla_aurora_the_browser_for_the_next_web.html