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Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies

MidVicious writes "From futuristic 'Punch Cards' to Voice Recognition HoloDeck Interfaces, human/computer interactions have always mirrored the base concepts of our emerging technologies. An article from a Saarland University CS Seminar highlights Hollywood history with UI, ranging from the moderately feasible (Total Recall's television/scenery display wall) to the often ridiculous (Swordfish's 6-flat screen monitor setup complete with 3-D virus-hacking environment). An interesting read, especially considering some of the technology is on its way to becoming a reality."

19 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. Video game as firewall by starfishsystems · · Score: 5, Funny
    My favorite are scenes where figuring out how to hack through some kind of super hardened security amounts to playing a big old video game.

    It's like, yeah, that's really how I configure iptables or add a server cert to Apache.

    --
    Parity: What to do when the weekend comes.
    1. Re:Video game as firewall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You mean YOU don't compile the kernel by using tetris bricks?

    2. Re:Video game as firewall by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 5, Funny

      You don't? Hell I use psDooM on all my production systems. I like to let my processes sort out their own issues, who needs nice anyways? And boy, with this kind of user interface, I deal with hackers by "iddqd" "idkfa" and then pull out the BFG. Problem solved.

      (Screenshots for those who don't remember psDooM: http://psdoom.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html

      --
      Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
    3. Re:Video game as firewall by Clazzy · · Score: 5, Funny

      What they don't realise is that firewall configuration goes something like this:

      You are now entering port 80.
      It is pitch black.
      You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
      The batteries have gone on your flashlight.
      > CHANGE BATTERIES
      You have no new batteries.
      You were eaten by a grue, port 80 is now open.

      --
      If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards... Checkmate.
  2. Lex says... by the_tsi · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is a Unix system! I know this!

    1. Re:Lex says... by harp2812 · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Sad thing is, I actually went and installed it after seeing the movie...

      http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html

      Slow as hell, and not nearly as cool as I thought it'd be though. :(

      --
      I've found that nurturing one's Zen nature is vital to dealing with technology. Violence is pretty damn useful too.
  3. Re:Swordfish by dbhankins · · Score: 4, Funny

    It wasn't the six panels that was ridiculous, it was the additional peripheral the hacker had to deal with during his job interview.

  4. Mouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Am i the only one who notices punching keys is all they do in movies? even tho they have a graphical UI

    1. Re:Mouse? by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Interesting

      See, the thing about menu driven interfaces is they are serious compromises. They trade cost (many buttons and the space they take up) for layers on a single interface (a screen.) When operating critical machinery, you can't be navigating menus. For instance, if cap'n starboy says "shields up", you can't say, "sorry, I didn't get them up in time because I was in the turbolift interface." You need to press a button that puts the shields up, and *right now.* Likewise for any number of critical functions.

      I can give you a practical modern example. I own a Denon 7.1 channel surround system. It's really pretty decent quality, and it is the main system for our theater. If you want to do anything besides change sources or volume, you'll be navigating menus. Sometimes... lots of menus. It's a pain in the butt, and it is slow. This thing cost me about two grand.

      In my library, I have a Marantz 2325, circa 1975 or so. This has every control and status display on a button, knob, or dial. There are only two multi-purpose things on it. Consequently, it is a lot easier to run - everything is always in the same place, and the things you use often you learn where are almost immediately - and it is a whole lot faster to operate. Want to turn up the bass? Reach for the bass control. Want just bass on the left speaker? Inner concentric ring of the bass control. And so on, for almost every function on the unit. It's not perfect - FM muting level is on the rear, and the Dolby levels take over the FM signal strength meter when you want to look at them, but man is it a lot easier and more comfortable to operate than the Denon. But accounting for inflation, the retail on this was about five grand. Those buttons and knobs are very costly. It isn't just advances in electronics that make that relative price drop!

      The Denon actually has a lot more functionality. But getting at it is tough. Practically speaking, that actually means that mostly, I don't get at it at all.

      Coming back to a computer interface for a spacecraft or a watercraft or any war machine, I can see them going back to buttons regardless of the ability to fold functionality into a graphic interface, because with a button, a well trained person goes right to the function and time may be of the essence in any one of a number of situations, including some that may not have been foreseen by the system designers. Buttons cost more in terms of real estate, but then again, they can give you more in terms of outright survival.

      Buttons are faster than speech, too, even if there is no latency. Takes about 40 ms to hit a button. You can't talk that fast. It's just that simple. Now, if they ever manage to make a mind to machine interface, we'll be on new ground, but until then... buttons ftw. :-)

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  5. Re:Alien by Original+Replica · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Star Trek has predicted other aspects of communication/information well enough, I don't see why predicting useful GUIs would be out of character for the series. Aside from the obvious cell phone = communicator, we also saw Uhura's bluetooth earbud, and between MRIs, spectrometers, and NASA's NUGGET (Neutron/Gamma Ray Geologic Tomography) we are working our way to a proper tricorder.

    --
    We are all just people.
  6. Re:3-D interface in X-Men by Original+Replica · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't think the X-Men display features any color, so this is probably doable today.

    I would almost feel sorry for anyone who went through the trouble of building one, without running fiber optics up each pin. The color part should be easy compared to the hydraulics part.

    --
    We are all just people.
  7. Re:Star Trek comm badge logic by rklemaster · · Score: 5, Funny

    You need to get laid.

  8. Re:Alien by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think the TNG computer was a sack of crap, you ask it where someone is and its says they aren't on board, if the computer knows where people are on he ship, why doesn't it tell you something usefull like, they went crazy and flew off in a shuttle or they mysteriously vanished from some coridor due to weird alien crap. And why didn't it tell someone when they went missing, rather than sit there like a fucktard for 5 hours untill someone notices they are gone before telling anyone they were mysteriously abducted by wierd energy monsters or whatever. The interface was good, with the touch screens and the voice, but the AI of the thing was dumb as fuck.

  9. Re:Star Trek comm badge logic by PhreakOfTime · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As sad as this is... Ive actually thought about that too. What follows is my attempt to justify the technology and what must be going on, with what you would see on the screen.

    Lets say that Picard(on the bridge) taps his badge to ask for Riker(not on the bridge). This is how that might work;

    1)Picard taps the badge to initiate the comm link.
    2)Picard begins the link by stating who he is, and who he is attempting to contact.
    3)With just a few second delay, the computer could derive from the audio who the intended recipient is.
    4)Having cached the entire audio to determine who is the recipient, the ships comm system then forward this cached audi(mith a few second delay) to the recipient.
    5)When the recipient hears the request come through on their badge, the link is already established, and there is no more need for a delay.
    6)conversation proceeds as normal.

    And no fair to the guy who said "you need to get laid". To that I say... "You need to stop getting laid, we have enough friggin people here!"

  10. Re:Alien by vux984 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe the crew liked having the freedom of not having their every move recorded. IE the computer only tracked someone down when it was asked to (by command staff even maybe?), rather than maintaining continual tabs on everybody all the time.

    Not saying that's the rationale for TNG... but I wouldn't mind a future where it was.

  11. Metropolis 'interface' by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Something tells me that they didn't quite grasp the concepts at work in some of these films, like criticising the metropolis interface for making the 'user' work. The workers in metropolis weren't users, and they didn't interface with the machines, they were slaves to the machines and just carried out the machines instructions, they didn't have any input, they just performed physical labour acording to the machines instructions. The clock thing was like a relay, but with a person doing the physical labour. They seemed to miss the whole point of that scene.

  12. Scotty by jac89 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hello Computer?? ***maybe you should use the keyboard*** ... Ah yes, how quaint.

  13. Re:Alien by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    While it never made it in to film, the interface in the later Foundation novels wins for me. Do the UI components still explode with a sea of sparks every time the ship has any problem like in the TV shows? Or have they finally figured out how to get input from consoles without needing 100,000 V and a couple of pieces of random explosives strapped inside?
  14. Re:Swordfish by Scarletdown · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm dropping out of society if this ever becomes a standard interface for any system.

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    This space unintentionally left blank.