Make it so - thiết kế giao diện UI

Nathan Shedroff and Christopher Noessel

Make It So

Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction

Rosenfeld Media

Brooklyn, New York

Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction

By Nathan Shedroff and Christopher Noessel

Rosenfeld Media, LLC

457 Third Street, #4R

Brooklyn, New York

11215 USA

On the Web: www.rosenfeldmedia.com

Please send errors to: [email protected]

Publisher: Louis Rosenfeld

Developmental Editor: JoAnn Simony

Copyeditor: Kathy Brock

Interior Layout Tech: Danielle Foster

Cover Design: The Heads of State

Indexer: Nancy Guenther

Proofreader: Ben Tedoff

© 2012 Rosenfeld Media, LLC

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 1-933820-98-5

ISBN-13: 978-1-933820-98-9

LCCN: 2012943408

Printed and bound in the United States of America

iii

Dedication

To my nieces, Aleksandra and Isabella, who have yet to see their first sci-fi.

However, I have big plans for them and plenty of time to combat Barbie.

—Nathan Shedroff

To my nieces, nephews, and goddaughters: Hunter, Abby, Ava, Kaili, Andrea,

Craig Jr., and Evan; and to my little, forthcoming boy (and any more to

come). The vision of the future is increasingly in your hands.

—Chris Noessel

iv

How to Use This Book

Being an interaction designer colors how you watch science fiction. Of

course you’re enjoying all of the hyperspacey, laser-flinging, computer￾hacking action like everyone else, but you can’t help but evaluate the

interfaces when they appear. You are curious if they’ll disable the tractor

beam in time, but you also find yourself wondering, Could it really work that

way? Should it work that way? How could it work better? And, of course, Can

I get the interfaces I design in my own work to be this cool or even cooler?

We asked ourselves these questions with each new TV show and each new

film we watched, and we realized that for every eye-roll-worthy moment of

technological stupidity, there are genuine lessons to be learned—practical

lessons to be drawn from the very public, almost outsider-art interfaces that

appear in the more than 100 years of sci-fi cinema and television. Then we

wondered what we would learn from looking at not just one or even a dozen

of them but as many as we could.

This book is the result of that inquiry, an analysis of interfaces in sci-fi films

and TV shows, with lessons that interface and interaction designers can use

in their real-world practice. We’ve learned a great deal in writing it, and we

want to share those lessons with you.

Who Should Read This Book?

We have written this book principally for interface designers interested

in learning best practices from sci-fi, understanding sci-fi’s role in design

history, and using sci-fi interfaces in their own work.

If you’re a sci-fi fan with an interest in interface design, use this book to explore

your favorite movies and TV shows more deeply and to discover new ones.

If you make sci-fi, you can learn how the interfaces you create are evaluated

by audiences and influence real-world developers.

Similarly, individuals interested in media theory through the perspective of

sci-fi can find insights here, though a more thorough and deep discussion of

theory will have to wait for more research.

How to Use This Book v

What’s in This Book?

To make the material easily accessible, we’ve organized the discussions in

two sections: the first examines the elements of user interfaces in sci-fi, and

the second looks at how these interfaces are used to assist basic human

activities such as communication and learning.

Discussing interface elements first should make it clear where to find

information, examples, and lessons pertaining to individual user interface

components. These deal with inputs and outputs. Lots of examples can be

found throughout sci-fi for each of these, but we’ve chosen some of the most

interesting and unique.

The second section focuses on things people do. This content is organized

around the flow of activities and the system interactions that support users’

goals. There’s even a chapter on sex-related systems, of which there are more

than you might at first think, and which reveal some surprisingly applicable

lessons to everyday, less titillating work.

All of the lessons and opportunities in the book have been gathered in an

appendix for quick reference.

What Comes with This Book

There is a lot of material in this book, but we’ve still only scratched the

surface. Lou Rosenfeld has been generous in giving us so much space,

but there is a lot that couldn’t be included, some of which is available on

the book’s companion website, www.scifiinterfaces.com. There we’ll be

adding material as new films and TV series are released, a list of all of the

titles we’ve reviewed so far, as well as links to where you can buy or rent

titles, or watch clips. We’re in the process of adding more detailed reviews

of particular sci-fi interfaces, our extensive tag cloud, larger versions of the

images used in the book, and more.

vi

Frequently Asked

Questions

The topic of this book is a fun idea, but how

is science fiction relevant to design?

Design and science fiction do much the same thing. Sci-fi uses characters

in stories to describe a possible future. Similarly, the design process uses

personas in scenarios to describe a possible interface. They’re both fiction.

Interfaces only become fact when a product ships. The main differences

between the two come from the fact that design mainly proposes what it

thinks is best, and sci-fi is mostly meant to entertain. But because sci-fi can

envision technology farther out, largely freed from real-world constraints,

design can look to it for inspiration and ideas about what can be done today.

See Chapters 1 and 14.

Do you distinguish between science fiction and sci-fi?

In a 1997 article, Harlan Ellison claimed the term “science fiction” for the

genre of story that is concerned with science and “eternal questions,” with

an implied focus on literature.1 We wanted to look at interfaces, and this

led us quite often into that other category of story that he characterized as a

“debasement” and “a simplistic, pulp-fiction view of the world” called “sci-fi.”

We don’t entirely agree with his characterization, and it’s true that we didn’t

look at literature for this project, so we don’t make the same distinction. We

just use sci-fi as an abbreviation for science fiction to save space. Hopefully

Mr. Ellison won’t be too mad.

Where is [insert an example from sci-fi here]?

To misquote Douglas Adams: Sci-fi is big. Really big. We couldn’t get to

everything, and we didn’t have the room to include everything we got to.

Fortunately, many sci-fi examples build on very similar ideas. Sometimes we

passed over one example in favor of another that might be more well known

or, alternatively, we included an unsung one that deserved some credit.

Most of what we’ve reviewed is sci-fi from the United States, but we’ve also

ventured into sci-fi from other countries. Even given what we’ve managed to

achieve, we’ve barely scratched the surface. You can find additional material

on our website: www.scifiinterfaces.com.

1 Ellison, Harlan. (1997, April 7). Strangers in a strange land. Newsweek.

Frequently Asked Questions vii

Why didn’t you talk about [insert interaction

design principle here]?

The lessons are derived from sci-fi, not the other way around. If no example

in the survey pointed us toward, say, Fitts’s Law, then it doesn’t appear, and

some principles didn’t make the final cut due to space constraints. Another

style of investigation would have been to write a textbook on interaction or

interface design using only examples from sci-fi, which would be interesting,

but isn’t this project.

Wouldn’t this have worked better as a movie

or an ebook that can play video clips?

Because our lessons and commentary involve moments from movies and

television, it’s a little problematic to publish them in a medium that doesn’t

allow us to show these interfaces in action. But because our focus was on

studying interfaces and deriving lessons, we’ve started with media that would

work best for later reference: traditional book, ebook, and website. If you’re

eager to see some of these interfaces in action, certainly check out the original

movies or TV shows, or come to one of the workshops and lectures we give on

the subject, where we share relevant clips. And be assured that we’re exploring

alternative media for these lessons and ideas next.

These interfaces weren’t designed to be studied or for

users in the real world. Aren’t you being a little unfair?

Indeed, we are using real-world criteria for interfaces that aren’t in the

real world—the vast majority of which aren’t meant to be. But as fans and

designers, we can’t help but bring a critical eye to bear on the sci-fi we watch,

and with most of the world becoming more technologically savvy as time

goes on, audiences will become so, too. But it’s the “outsider” nature of these

interfaces that make them fascinating to study, as their creators produce

both blunders and inspired visions.

What was the most interesting thing you

discovered when writing the book?

We were surprised at how productive it was to investigate the “bad”

interfaces. The “good” interfaces often serve as reminders of principles with

which we are already familiar. Sometimes they are inspiring. But the “bad”

interfaces, because they still worked at a narrative level, revealed the most

surprising insights through the process of “apology,” discussed in Chapter 1.

viii Frequently Asked Questions

What was left on the editing room floor?

One of our early ideas for the book was to include interviews with sci-fi

makers and science practitioners. The interviews didn’t make it into the final

iteration of the book, but these people gave their time and shared much with

us, and we’d like to acknowledge them individually with special thanks:

Douglas Caldwell, Mark Coleran, Mike Fink, Neil Huxley, Dean Kamen, Joe

Kosmo, David Lewindowsky, Jerry Miller, Michael Ryman, Rpin Suwannath,

and Lee Weinstein.

Additionally, we had early draft chapters on sci-fi doors, chemical interfaces,

weapons, and spacesuits/spaceships. Early reviews of the sheer size of the

book forced us to make some hard choices. Perhaps in some future work we

will be able to develop this content further, but for now it will have to wait.

Why didn’t you mention [insert title] more?

Several movies and TV shows are incredibly seminal and culturally

influential. Star Trek, Minority Report, and 2001: A Space Odyssey are three

we can name off of the top of our heads. But we didn’t want to lean too much

on a small set of movies and shows. Rather, we wanted to use these examples

for their most salient aspects, then branch out into other examples from the

survey when the topic warranted.

What about other speculative technology found in

video games, futuristic commercials, or industry films?

The hard-core genre nerds know that conversations about defining science

fiction often lead to conversations about speculative fiction instead, which

is a much broader topic of interest to us, but isn’t the focus of this project.

Anyone interested in these related media should read Chapter 14.

ix

Contents

How to Use This Book iv

Frequently Asked Questions vi

Foreword xvii

Chapter 1

Learning Lessons from Science Fiction 1

What Is an Interface? 3

Which Science Fiction? 3

What Counts? 5

Why Look to Fiction? 6

The Database 7

Finding Design Lessons 7

The Shape of a Lesson 10

Finding Inspiration in Science Fiction 11

Let’s Begin 13

part I: Elements of Sci-Fi User Interfaces

Chapter 2

Mechanical Controls 15

At First, Mechanical Controls Were Nowhere 16

Then They Were Everywhere 17

For a While, Mechanical Controls Started

Disappearing 21

Now They Coexist with Other Interfaces 24

Mechanical Controls Are Used to Evoke Moods 26

Mechanical Controls: Will We Come Full Circle? 27

Chapter 3

Visual Interfaces 29

What Counts? 32

Text-Based Interfaces 32

Command-Line Interfaces 32

x Contents

Graphical User Interfaces 36

Typography 36

Glow 40

Color 41

Display Shape 50

Layers and Transparency 51

21

/2D 54

Grouped Controls 55

File Management Systems 58

Motion Graphics 62

Visual Style 64

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 65

Final Fantasy 66

The Chronicles of Riddick 66

The Incredibles 67

Case Study: Star Trek’s LCARS 68

Visual Interfaces Paint Our Most Detailed

Pictures of the Future 73

Chapter 4

Volumetric Projection 75

What Counts? 76

What Do Volumetric Projections Look Like? 78

How Are Volumetric Projections Used? 81

Communications 81

Reinforcing Social Hierarchy 85

Navigation 86

Medical Imaging 87

Real-World Problems 87

Confusion 87

Eyestrain 88

Cropping 88

Contents xi

Occlusion 89

Overuse 89

Volumetric Projection Has Been Defined by Sci-Fi 90

Chapter 5

Gesture 91

What Counts? 92

The Canonical Gestural Interface: Minority Report 95

Gesture Is a Concept That Is Still Maturing 97

Hollywood’s Pidgin 98

1. Wave to Activate 98

2. Push to Move 99

3. Turn to Rotate 99

4. Swipe to Dismiss 100

5. Point or Touch to Select 100

6. Extend the Hand to Shoot 101

7. Pinch and Spread to Scale 101

Direct Manipulation 102

Gestural Interfaces Have a Narrative Point of View 104

Gestural Interfaces: An Emerging Language 108

Chapter 6

Sonic Interfaces 109

What Counts? 110

Sound Effects 110

Ambient Sound 112

Directional Sound 112

Music Interfaces 114

Voice Interfaces 115

Simple Voice Output 116

Voice-Identification Interfaces 117

Limited-Command Voice Interfaces 118

xii Contents

Conversational Interfaces 121

Sonic Interfaces: Hearing Is Believing 124

Chapter 7

Brain Interfaces 125

Physically Accessing the Brain 126

Invasive Brain Interfaces 126

Noninvasive Brain Interfaces 127

Disabling the Mind 131

Two Directions of Information 132

Writing to the Brain 132

Reading from the Brain 138

Telexperience 142

Active Subjects 144

Virtual Telepresence 144

Actual Telepresence 148

Manifesting Thought 149

Having Virtual Sex 149

Piloting a Spaceship 150

Playing a Game 151

Dismantling Two Sci-Fi Brain-Tech Myths 151

Myth: Brain-Affecting Interfaces Will

Be Painful 151

Myth: Knowledge Can Be Installed and

Uninstalled Like Software 153

Where Are the Thought Interfaces? 153

Brain Interfaces: A Minefield of Myths 155

Chapter 8

Augmented Reality 157

What Counts? 158

Appearance 160

Sensor Display 160

Contents xiii

Location Awareness 163

Context Awareness 165

Object Awareness 165

Awareness of People 167

Goal Awareness 171

Goal: Flying Well 171

Goal: Precise Targeting 172

What’s Missing? 176

Augmented Reality Will Make Us Laser-Focused,

Walking Encyclopedias 176

Chapter 9

Anthropomorphism 177

Humanness Is Transferable to Nonhuman

Systems 179

Appearance 185

Voice 186

Audible Expressiveness 188

Behavior 189

Degrees of Agency: Autonomy and Assistance 190

Anthropomorphism: A Powerful Effect That

Should Be Invoked Carefully 195

part II: Sci-Fi Interfaces and Human Activities

Chapter 10

Communication 197

Asynchronous versus Synchronous Communication 199

Composing 199

Playback 201

Activating the System 202

Specifying a Recipient 203

Fixed Connection 203

xiv Contents

Operator 204

A Unique Identifier 205

Stored Contacts 206

Receiving a Call 208

Notification 208

What We Don’t See 211

Accepting 211

Monitoring the Connection 212

Ending a Call 213

Audio 214

Audiovisualization 216

What We Don’t See 217

Video 217

What We Don’t See 218

Two More Functions 218

Language Translation 218

Disguise 220

Communication: How We’ll Be Talking Next 221

Chapter 11

Learning 223

Direct Download 225

Psychomotor Practice 227

Presentation Tools 232

Reference Tools 236

Machines to Think With 241

Testing Interfaces 244

Case Study: The Holodeck 247

Psychomotor Training 248

Presentation 250

Reference 250

Machines to Think With 251