
Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them - nreece
http://gizmodo.com/5418342/ridiculous-user-interfaces-in-film-and-the-man-who-designs-them
======
lt
There's something that always amuses me in movies and series: something
happened/is about to happen, a taskforce is created and they're running
software very specific to that thing right away, with graphics, simulations,
etc.

Who writes all that? No one ever mentions the programmers that save the day.

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jrnkntl
The real portfolio url was on HN two days ago.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=971844> and the link:
<http://blog.coleran.com/category/portfolio/screendesign>

~~~
sten_ben
And a post was up on rockpapershotgun this monday:
[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/11/30/tapitty-
tapitty-t...](http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/11/30/tapitty-tapitty-
tapitty-on-screen-computing)

Who started all this one may wonder.

~~~
andreyf
I think he did an AMA on reddit two months ago:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9lsp2/i_create_those_f...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9lsp2/i_create_those_fake_fbi_screens_and_crime/)

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rbanffy
I have to disagree on the ridiculous part. They are all busy and dense, but
they are not ridiculous per se when detached from the movie they came from.

Sometimes, you have to convey a very large amount of information in a very
confined space. The glass-cockpits in planes are a good example - very dense
displays that require some training to use.

And, once it works, there is little reason not to make it look cool.

~~~
gaius
Some of the best interfaces I have written have been in good old-fashioned
curses. If you need a "dashboard" for a complex system for a skilled operator,
you can convey an awful lot of information in a maximized xterm on a 1280x1024
screen, it's dense but it's not "cluttered" if you lay it out and use colour
intelligently.

~~~
rbanffy
Sure, bit it's useful to convey some information in graphical form. Many of
the constructs he employs (progress circles, use of color gradients to
indicate data age) are really good.

The main point being, complex data doesn't have to look ugly.

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ckuehne
Funny. The German in the Bourne Identity UIs is full of errors and fake words.
Then again, it is still a lot better than the "German" spoken by Nazis in
Hollywood movies.

~~~
rbanffy
_ACHTUNG!_

ALLES TURISTEN UND NONTEKNISCHEN LOOKENPEEPERS! DAS KOMPUTERMASCHINE IST NICHT
FÜR DER GEFINGERPOKEN UND MITTENGRABEN! ODERWISE IST EASY TO SCHNAPPEN DER
SPRINGENWERK, BLOWENFUSEN UND POPPENCORKEN MIT SPITZENSPARKSEN. IST NICHT FÜR
GEWERKEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER RUBBERNECKEN SIGHTSEEREN KEEPEN DAS COTTONPICKEN
HÄNDER IN DAS POCKETS MUSS. ZO RELAXEN UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights>

------
Luyt
However, the user interface of the Sentry Gun the marines used in Aliens II
was very realistic: <http://www.inetres.com/gp/sf/aliens/sentry02.jpg>

~~~
aarongough
Dead link...

~~~
Luyt
Really? For me it still works.

Anyway, I've made a mirror copy:

ftp://motoom.net/pictures/alien-sentry02.jpg

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warfangle
If you want an overly complicated and busy (with no regard to usability) UI,
just go for Enlightenment ;)

In other regards, I like the choice of Ulrich Schnauss on his film reel. Big
fan. Good coding 'tunes.

~~~
zurcociremer
I love Enlightenment. Used to show it off to friends during presentations just
for kicks. ;)

Other than that it's pretty usable, though takes a while getting used to.

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Nosferax
A much more interesting user interface used in a movie was developed by Oblong
(see John Underkoffler). I am talking about Minority Report ;) They are making
it into a real UI.

Check it out : www.oblong.com

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genieyclo
Did this guy do an IAmA on Reddit:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9lsp2/i_create_those_f...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9lsp2/i_create_those_fake_fbi_screens_and_crime/)
?

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systemtrigger
I'm looking forward to Iron Man 2. Teaser:
<http://mahoski.s3.amazonaws.com/ironman-big.jpg>

~~~
youngian
I really enjoyed the UI stuff in Ironman. It was futuristic to be sure, but a
lot of it struck me as interfaces that, given the technology, a brilliant
inventor might actually use. And I'm pretty sure there was an implementation
of tabs, pads, and boards
([http://design.cca.edu/graduate/uploads/pdf/IA_PARC_Ubicomp.p...](http://design.cca.edu/graduate/uploads/pdf/IA_PARC_Ubicomp.pdf))
going on there.

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sp332
The guy who made the interface for Minority Report is actually commercializing
it. <http://vimeo.com/user922585>

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wlievens
I often think that UI's for some real software should be closer to film
depictions, not the other way around.

