pomegranate-ux.md (1588B)
1 +++ 2 title = "Pomegranate Seeds" 3 date = 2022-09-29 4 +++ 5 6 Just before the start of Rosh Hashanah, I found myself standing over a 7 kitchen sink. To my left, two pomegranates sat next to a large stainless 8 steel knife atop a cutting board. Ahead of me, resting in the sink, was 9 a bowl brimming with water. 10 11 <!-- more --> 12 13 To harvest the seeds of a pomegranate, you first cut the fruit into 14 quarters. These wedges are then submerged in water, where you basically 15 fidget with the fruit until the segments detach. The red, 16 semi-translucent seeds sink to the bottom of the bowl while the 17 white-brown excess floats to the top to be conveniently discarded. 18 19 On this particular afternoon, I was in a bit of a rush: I needed seeds 20 quickly. I threw a couple wedges into the bowl, and started working on 21 one of them. I finished the wedge and tossed the skin aside. 22 23 Without really looking around, I reached out, unfocused, into the waters 24 of the bowl. After a few seconds, I paused and stared down at the 25 pomegranate in my hands. 26 27 I hadn't put any thought into the motion. I reached out my hand, and 28 must have been subconsciously tracking the movement of the wedge. 29 Completely on instinct, I had found a second wedge. 30 31 The experience was so seamless it left me mildly startled, observing it 32 after the fact. 33 34 Some keyboard-based programs give the feeling of interfacing directly 35 with technology, a near echo of the instinctive feeling of working with 36 your hands. VR and AR aren't there yet, but the applications are fairly 37 self-evident. 38 39 Startlingly seamless is a good experience to aim for as developers.