Being able to touch, move, and magically discover information has been the long-time fodder of sci-fi movies. But these interfaces are quickly becoming a reality. We’ll explore the interplay between fanciful Hollywood productions, one-off information visualizations, and useful real-world applications.
With few technical limitations, Hollywood artists have created wonderfully immersive sci-fi computer interfaces. They leave us on the edge of our seats, wanting to experience the magic in real life. Throughout the past few decades, little by little, many of these fanciful productions become real. The Star Trek Communicator finds physical form in the Motorola StarTac. C-3PO transforms into a geriatric aid in Japanese hospitals.
Science fiction sets the popular expectation, creating not only anticipation, but a sort of pre-familiarity with new interface paradigms. When the StarTac hit the market, we already knew what it was. Our shared vision of what the future – should be – became available for purchase.
Arguably, the video-scrubbing scene in the film, The Minority Report, has widely set the popular expectation for how we’ll be interacting with computers in the near future. We expect to control them with gestures, for them to surround us with useful and accessible information, and above all, for them to be beautiful. While the scene from Minority Report is a touchstone, we’ve seen similar interfaces in films all the way from Disney’s Fantasia to The Matrix.
In this panel, we’ll explore the convergence of fields that, finally in 2008, made this interface paradigm possible. Hollywood artists provided inspiration. Information visualization experts provided one-off examples showing stunning visuals mixed with useful data. And in 2008, massive reductions in Internet infrastructure costs and data-availability made it possible to create systematic and generalized interfaces that are, at once, beautiful and also useful. Along with the engineers and artists who make these interfaces, we’ll journey through the creative process, limitations, opportunities, and the adventure that awaits in the next several years.
