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Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
3D Eyetracking Cellphone Interface Is, Like, Deep, Man
SmartRetina Computer Controller Prototype

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ytkliu
12/04/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
Holy mother of god this is an incredible article. I've always wanted to know who made these ridiculous interfaces - never imagined that it would be mostly one guy.
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madog
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
Enhance... Enhance... Enhance... En... hance...

Best fake (Mac) UI = The Net. I was so jealous of it when I first saw that movie. God, I'm old.
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Nick
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
It's the kind of stuff you take for granted in action and sci-fi films

whoa, there. i have never taken that stuff for granted. i always catch myself wondering who was in charge of creating all those UIs and where they get their ideas from. definitely a talented fellow.
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TreFacTor
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
When I look at current OS' and watch a movie like the Minority Report for instance, I get so frustrated that MS, Apple, and even the Linux OS don't even try to attempt to come close to the interfaces imagined in television and movies! Even if it is just superficial eye candy there has to be a way for the manufacturers to make a "futuristic LOOKING" interface.
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fuchikoma
12/03/09

@TreFacTor: I don't know... when the iPod Touch first came out and I played with it, I pretty much thought "my god... it's a movie computer interface in the palm of my hand!" Especially the little touches, like instead of just hitting the end of scrolling, there's a bit of stretch and elasticity before it snaps back into place. That's crazy when you compare it to a traditional desktop GUI...
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jepzilla
12/03/09

@TreFacTor: [research.microsoft.com]
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danielkza
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
Ironically, Matrix Reloaded, that ditches any plausibility for kicks where possible actually gets the computer part right.

I never noticed it 'til a couple of years ago, since when the film war originally launched I was a few orders of magnitude less geeker. Trinity uses nmap to detect and exploit a real SSH bug:

[www.securityfocus.com]
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Hello Mister Walrus
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
Jurassic Park, however, had the best GUI implementation ever for a UNIX system:
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irfan
12/03/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: i dug thru the gallery hoping to the some JP action. was disappointed until now.
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telepheedian
12/03/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: And it was real, too. [www.siliconbunny.com]
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njdevil
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
I hate the trick that tv shows (Notably CSI) use- taking some CCTV or phone video footage, freezing it, zooming in, and finding the identity of the killer via his name printed on a medicine bottle on the dashboard of a car reflected off a particularly shiny hobo's shopping trolley or some crap like that.

Meanwhile London has like 2 CCTV cameras for every single person and they can't catch criminals wearing hoodys.
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acemannw
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
This is one of my biggest pet peeves in movies!!!!

It doesn't bother me that the heroin of the movie can shoot 47 times with a 6 shot revolver when he pulls out his super secret spy computer and it is some unknown operating system i get all pissed off. I actually really hate this guy and his silly work. Just give me a real operating system and make it be Mac OS or maybe XP.
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someToast
12/03/09

@acemannw: I know it's a typo, but the line about heroin shooting made me chuckle. : )

Maybe it's because that topic came up over lunch today, too.
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SkipErnst
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
I've always hated the fact that movie characters never use a mouse. Ever. Especially not if you can see the computer's screen. The TV show "24" drove me crazy with this trope. But of course it's far easier to fake working on a computer with a simulated display if you only use the keyboard, so there you have it.
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WWSJD
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
The reason they make fake interfaces is because computers are visually boring as hell.

Honestly if anyone put someone actually hacking or cracking in a movie it would be boring as hell accurate but boring. Honestly i think the best most accurate techie movie is still Sneakers; great cast and they didn't go all pink bunnies attacking pacmen.
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TuxBobble
12/03/09

@WWSJD: Wait a minute. So when you hack, you're NOT releasing clones of the easter bunny, which mate and create more bunnies, thus overheating the otherwise well-cooled PC on the other side? The fur blocks the fans quite efficiently, it's a well known fact!

Oh well, that drops my interest in hacking altogether...

Can I still wear a trench coat and ride a skateboard any time I travel a distance greater than 3 feet?
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Edited by TuxBobble at 12/03/09 5:06 PM TuxBobble was starred TuxBobble was unstarred

the pirate Neckbeard
12/03/09

@TuxBobble: So do we know who created the UI's from Hackers? I'm guessing not this guy since it wasn't mentioned. Or maybe they weren't mentioned cuz they were spot-on realistic (especially for the mid-90's) making it not as interesting. Pssh, how we've advanced since then!

Sneakers and Hackers - both great movies. Two of the first DVD's I ever purchased.
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fuchikoma
12/03/09

@the pirate Neckbeard:
I think the one in Hackers was a set piece... I remember seeing this plexiglass interface and noticing bits of dust on it, haha... I think it was "The Gibson" in Hackers...
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mcoleran
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
There is sometimes a huge gap between realism and what we throw into the films. Yes, it is a little over the top at times but in the end there are just a few factors that decide what you do.

Story is everything, does it tell the small part of the story it is supposed to?

Is it visually interesting and appropriate? Does it look good, appropriate for the context and scene it is in?

At a glance it is supposed to be something different from what we have and use everyday, yet keep a few small design cues that make it inherently recognizable as an interface. It can be a hard thing to balance. Whether it would ever be a real UI, absolutely not. Usability is not high on the list of requirements for the screens in films. Just telling that small part of the story as quick and clearly as you can and making it look good.

Thanks for the good notes.

Coleran
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CaseyG
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
It's Cinema-OS! [www.galactanet.com]
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Bertone77
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
Here are the basic guidelines to UI design for Hollywood:
[www.annoyances.org]
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Nathan Obbards
12/03/09

@Bertone77: You know what's amusing about that website? It's called annoyances, yet has a horribly dated, Windows 95 looking web page.
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Torley
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
Mark Coleran is the Syd Mead of fake UI.
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Edited by Torley at 12/03/09 4:33 PM Torley was starred Torley was unstarred

Tom Bielecki
12/03/09

In reply to Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them
I found this guy's website on 7/11/08 and sent him an email. His response:

"Thanks for the good note.

I used to use a combination of Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Electric Image and Debabelizer for creating the screens.
[...]

I actually work in software these days as well, doing UI design. Gave up the film stuff a year ago for a real job ;)

Cheers
Mark"

He sent me a link to an unfinished showreel of his that blew my mind. The man is a god of infographic 'porn'. I absolutely love his work.
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Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Edited by Tom Bielecki at 12/03/09 4:31 PM Tom Bielecki was starred Tom Bielecki was unstarred

Nathan Obbards
12/03/09

@Tom Bielecki: So, can we see this showreel?
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Tom Bielecki
12/03/09

@Nathan Obbards: I think this was it actually. The link to it doesn't work anymore. I think there were films like deja-vu which hadn't been released yet. He's a really cool guy.
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