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SIGCHI'01, March 31-April 4, 2001, Seattle, WA, USA. Copyright 2001 ACM 1-58113-327-8/01/0003...$5.00.

Dennis Chao Computer Science Department University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA +1 505 277 5957 dlchao@cs.unm.edu

ABSTRACT

This paper explores a novel interface to a system administration task. Instead of creating an interface de novo for the task, the author modified a popular computer game, Doom, to perform useful work. The game was chosen for its appeal to the target audience of system administrators. The implementation described is not a mature application, but it illustrates important points about user interfaces and our relationship with computers. The application relies on a computer game vernacular rather than the simulations of physical reality found in typical navigable virtual environments. Using a computer game vocabulary may broaden an application's audience by providing an intuitive environment for children and non-technical users. In addition, the application highlights the adversarial relationships that exist in a computer and suggests a new resource allocation scheme.

Keywords Cyberspace, Doom, first-person shooter, games, metaphors, operating systems, Post-Modernism, 3D user interfaces, vernacular, video games, visualization

INTRODUCTION

Those who use computers inevitably encounter some of the metaphors that allow for easier assimilation of abstract concepts. The desktop metaphor is so pervasive that most users hardly notice it [9], but the richness of the science-fiction version of cyberspace is largely confined