User interfaces in sf movies and tv

Michael Schmitz's paper, "Human Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies" is a visual, thematic tour through the ways that people talk to computers (and vice-versa) in movies and TV shows, from Metropolis to Futurama. There's some really insightful analysis here — and there's plenty to be learned just by looking at the side-by-side screenshots.


The probably most important aspect is the availability of special effects technologies – including the budget of a production to use those. Some movies that will be shown are made at a time where digital editing was not yet existent, whereas other recent motion pictures (e.g. Star Wars Episode II) don't even contain a single scene without computerized backgrounds or animations. Moreover the commercial success of the movie industry increased a lot during the past 10 years, such that higher budgets became more and more feasible.

Link

(via We Make Money, Not Art)