UXPADC13 Workshop: "UX in Sci-Fi Movies and TV"

Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc., www.AMandA.com, 1!AM+A!
The Past 100 Years of the Future: 
CHI, HCI, UX in Sci-Fi Movies + TV 
"
"Aaron Marcus, President, Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. 
1196 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1F, Berkeley, California 94708-1640,USA 
Tel: +1-510-601-0994, Fax: +1-510-527-1994 
Email: Aaron.Marcus@AMandA.com, Web: www.AMandA.com!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AMandAssociates!
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/aaron-marcus-and-associates-inc-!
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AMandAssociates!
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amandaberkeley!
Ebook: http://www.amanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AM+A.SciFI
+HCI.eBook_.LM10Oct12.pdf!

AM+A: 30+ Years of UX Innovation 
"
n  500 Projects for almost all platforms, technologies,
subject matter, context, and users!
n  14 Books and 350 articles!
n  4 Years of self-funded “Machines” R+D !
l  Mobile concept designs combining information design and persuasion
design to change behavior!
§  Starting De Tao Shanghai Center for UX Innovation !
!

Clients, Projects"
  Am Express "Nokia !!
  AT&T "Oracle !!
  BMW !Ricoh !!
  Citigroup "Sabre!
  DuPont "Samsung!
  Kodak !SAP!
  eBay !Simens "
  Epson !3M"
  Fujitsu !US Fed Reserve Bank!
  GE "Virgin America"
  GM "Visa"
  Honeywell "Xerox!
  HP "!
  IBM!
  Intel!
  J. Paul Getty Trust!
  Kaiser!
  Learning Company!
  Livescribe"
  Microsoft !!
  Motorola ! !
!!
*12 of 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average™ Firms

Books, Publications"

AM+A: Machines 
"
n  8 Past Machine; 9th = Happiness Machine !
!
Green Machine!
Health Machine!
Money Machine!
Story Machine!
!
Innovation Machine!
Travel Machine!
Driver Machine!
Learning Machine!

De Tao Academy: Center 
for UX Innovation, Shanghai"
n  De Tao Academy/Beijing: Bringing Masters from
many countries and disciplines to benefit China!
n  Aaron Marcus, Master, with 45 years’ experience !
l  World’s first graphic designer to work with computers, founded one
of first computer-based design firms; Fellow of the AIGA; Member
of CHI Academy, named Master, to head Center for UX Innovation
in Shanghai; international advisor to Dragon Design Foundation!

Sci-Fi = UX/HCI/CHI Origins:  
Event and Publication"
n  Mensch und Komputer, Chemnitz, Germany"
l  Conference keynote lecture, September 2010, “The Past 100 Years…”!
n  E-Book, free, downloadable!
l  “The Past 100 Years ..,” August 2012, http://www.amanda.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/AM+A.SciFI+HCI.eBook_.LM10Oct12.pdf!
!

Late Breaking News:  
Events and Publications"
n  DUXU 2013, Las Vegas, NV, Tutorial"
l  “The Past 100 Years of the Future,” 22 July 2013!
n  UXPA 2013, Washington, DC, Workshop!
l  “The Past 100 Years of the Future,” 11 July 2013!
n  Interactions, 20:4, July 2013, pp. 64-67"
l  “The History of the Future: Sci-Movies and HCI” by Aaron Marcus!
n  User Experience, 13:2, June 2013"
l  Special Issue: UX and Sci-Fi, Editors, Aaron Marcus, Chris Koster!
n  CHI 2013, Paris, France, Tutorial"
l  “The Past 100 Years of the Future,” 1 May 2013!
n  User Experience, 12:3, September 2012"
l  “Back to the Future”, by Aaron Marcus, pp. 30-31!

UX Magazine"

Interactions Magazine"

UX Magazine, 11:3, September 2012,
pp. 30-31: “Back to the Future”"

Lecture Objective and Agenda: 
Mission Impossible!"
n  Objectives: Survey topic, Discuss issue 
 
Agenda:!
n  My personal connection to Sci-Fi!
n  HCI and Sci-Fi taxonomies!
n  Early Sci-Fi/HCI cinema and video!
n  Tour of recent cinema!
n  Further issues and some conclusions!

Future Vision from the Distant Past: 
Roger Bacon, c. 1260 CE/AD"
n  “Machines may be made by which the largest
ships, with only one man steering them, will be
moved faster than if they were ﬁlled with rowers;
wagons may be built which will move with
incredible speed and without the aid of beasts;
ﬂying machines can be constructed in which a
man…may beat the air with wings like a bird…
machines will make it possible to go to the bottom
of seas and rivers.” 
!
²  [De secretis operibus, c. 4. ed. Cit. 533; cf. L. Thorndike, History of Magic and Expermental Science,
ii (1929), 654-5; F. Boll, “Technische Träume des Mittelalters”, Die Umschau, xxi (1917, 678-80, all
cited in White, Lynn, Jr. (1962). Medieval Technology and Social Change. London: Oxford, p. 134.]!

Sci-Fi in the 1950s: Post  
WW2 Utopian Kitsch"
n  Optimistic vision; robots rule!

Personal Credentials and History: 
Sci-Fi in the 1950s"
n  Dreaming of the future in Omaha, Nebraska, USA!
l  Radical, hydroscopic, lunar-dimensional, superspectrum,
sinusoidal tabulating- operating-system communication-radio!
l  Short nickname: the Goo-goo Machine!

Sci-Fi in the 1950s"
n  Drawing HCI images for high-tech rocketry!

CHI 92, CHI 99, Cyberpunk to CHI"
n  Bruce Sterling, Verner Vinge, etc. imagine future!

Taxonomy of HCI"
n  Hardware!
n  Software!
n  User community!
n  Content!
n  Metaphors!
n  Mental models!
n  Navigation!
n  Interaction!
n  Appearance!

Taxonomy of Sci-Fi"
n  Genre!
n  Story narrative !
n  Technology!
n  Society!
n  Temporal view!
n  Culture!
n  Hardware!
n  Software!
n  Medium!

Combining HCI and Sci-Fi Analysis"
n  Analyzing HCI and Sci-Fi taxonomies combined ->
too much complexity (work for future PhDs)!
n  Limited lecture objective: Examine selected
examples of what science ﬁction movies (and
some videos) have chosen to show of world of HCI
and “our” HCI issues, objectives, and technologies!
n  Movie challenge: must design/build full perceptual
experience of hardware and “imply” software!
n  Verbal literature: focus more easily on thoughts,
physical details; movies must show backgound!

Selected Sci-Fi/HCI Topics"
n  Assumptions about “users”!
n  Connection!
n  Control panels!
n  Cultural diversity!
n  Hardware: phones, display terminals, heads-up
displays, body suits, etc.!
n  Information visualization!
n  Speech/audio!
n  User-centered design!
n  Visual displays: transparency!

Themes to Consider"
n  What seems futuristic? Past vs. future?!
n  What masculine vs. feminine issues emerge?!
n  What people vs. machines issues emerge?!
n  What positive vs. negative views of technology
emerge?!
n  What cultural issues emerge?!

Selected Historical Examples"
n  Earliest Sci-Fi ﬁlms, 1895-1907!
n  Metropolis, 1927!
n  Flash Gordon, 1936!
n  Superman: The Mechanical Monsters, 1941!
n  Captain Video, 1951!
n  Journey to the Center of Time, 1967!
n  Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, 1968!

Earliest Sci-Fi Films: French 
[via Wikipedia]"
n  La Charcuterie mécanique, Lumière Bros, FR,1895!
l  “First” sci-fi film, according to some; machine turns pig into pork!
n  Gugusse et l'Automate, Georges Méliès, Director,
starring Georges Méliès, France, 1897!
l  Early “sci-fi”; circus performer makes, fights with automaton!
n  A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès, Director,
starring Georges Méliès, France, 1902!
l  “First” sci-fi film, uses innovative animation and special effects!
n  20.000 Lieues Sous les Mers, Georges Méliès,
Director, starring Georges Méliès, France,1907!
l  One of first color film; female factory workers hand-tinted frames!

Friz Lang’s Metropolis, 1927, Most
Expensive Silent Film Ever Made!
n  Social themes, robots, classic controls, and TV!!

Early Examples: Flash Gordon,
1930s “Videophones on the Wall”"
n  1936 vision of wall TVs vs. 2001’s from 1968!

“Mechanical Monsters,” 1941,
Second Superman Animation "
n  Superman saves Lois, battles robots!

Early Examples: 
Captain Video, 1950s"
n  1950s TV rocket-ship space-captain’s adventures!

Journey to the Center of Time, 1967"
n  “Classic” dials and gauges, and ritual inspections!!

Mensch und Komputer, 2011"
n  Even in 2011, 1950s MMI stereotypes persist!

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric
Women: 1968, Peter Bogdanovich, Dir."
n  Low-budget ﬁlm with 50s tech but men vs.
women!!

Recent Sci-Fi Cinema and HCI"
n  Lets look at more recent Cinema!

Again: Selected Sci-Fi/HCI Topics"
n  Connection!
n  Cultural diversity, species diversity!

Again: Themes to Consider"
emerge?!
n  What cross-cultural issues emerge!

Blah"
n  Blah!

Star Wars Series, 1977-2008 
Director: George Lucas"
n  Dirty rockets, robots; HW, characters; not HCI!

Terminator Series, 1984-2009 
Action Hero: Arnold Schwarzenegger"
n  Robot vision impressive, HRI usually speech, faces!

StarTrek (2366), TV 1966-69, Film 79- 
Creator: Gene Roddenberry"
n  Voice Communicator, HCIs copied in Galaxy Quest!

StarTrek: Into Darkness (2259), 2013
Director: J. J. Abrams"
n  Displays, medical diagnostics eclipsed by explosions!

StarTrek: Videogame, 2013,  
the Franchise Reboots"
n  Not HCI focused, warrior displays, not consumers!

2001"
n  Movie scene!

2001, 1968 (2001), 1/2, Writer: Clark, 
Director Stanley Kubrick"
n  Epic, sci realism, effects, min dialogue, no mobis!!

2001, 1968 (2001), 2/2"
n  1960s styling, many conventional displays!

Tron Legacy"
n  Screen image!

Tron, Tron Legacy, 1982, 2010 
Writer, Director: Steven Lisberger"
n  Retro replay of original, little HCI, mostly action!

Brazil"
n  Sceen Image!

Brazil, 1985 
Director: Terry Giliam"
n  19th/21st century dystopian hi-tech tubes and HCIs !

Total Recall"
n  Screen Image!

Total Recall, 1990; Author: P.K. Dick 
Director: Paul Verhoeven "
n  Tech innovation, memorable scenes, if not HCI!

Matrix"
n  Matrix full-screen scene!

Matrix Trilogy, 1999 and 2003 
Writer, Director: Wachowski Brothers"
n  Plugging in, industrial HW, fantasy wetware!

Actual High-Density, Multi-Screen
Data Display: Bloomberg UX Designs"

Oblivion, 2013: More Extreme Data"

eXistenZ"

eXistenZ, 1999, 1/2 
Director: David Cronenberg "
n  Video game worlds, biomorphic tech, bloody tech!!

eXistenZ, 1999, 2/2 "
n  Video game worlds, biomorphic tech, bloody tech!!

21st Century Sci-Fi Cinema and HCI"
n  Present time catches up with the future!!

Again: Selected Sci-Fi/HCI Topics"
n  Connection!
n  Cultural diversity, species diversity!

Again: Themes to Consider"
emerge?!
n  What cross-cultural issues emerge?!

Minority Report (2054), 2002 "

Minority Report (2054), 2002; Author: 
P. K. Dick; Director: Steven Spielberg 
"
n  Hand gestures! Transparent displays! (StarTrek 89)!

Transparent Displays: Samsung
Smart Windows, CES 2012 
"
n  One-way viewing, digital overlays, blinds!

Aeon Flux"

Aeon Flux (post-2011 virus), 2005 
Director: Karyn Kusama "
n  Skin displays, M2M pills, whistles, drug worlds!!

Ultraviolet"

Ultraviolet (2078), 2006 
Writer, Director: Kurt Wimmer"
n  Paper phones, diagrams, innovative HCI!!

Idiocracy"

Idiocracy (2506), 2006:  
Director: Mike Judge"
n  Devolution of HCI: hilarious, appalling, scary!

Blah"
n  Blah!

Avatar (c. 2150), 2009 
Writer, Director: James Cameron"
n  Male, metal, destruction vs. blue, female, connection!

District 9"

District 9, 2009 
Director: Neill Blomkamp"
n  Inventive alien HCI, or ACI!

Not Only Hollywood: Computer  
Industry Markets Demos of Future"
n  SciFi: limited UCD and realistic HCI!
n  HCI futurists also sometimes limited!
n  Beneﬁt of increased contact with others side in
development teams!
n  Examples:!
l  Apple’s “Knowledge Navigator” demo (1992)!
l  AT+T’s Connections (1993)!
l  DARPA’s “Augmented Cognition” demo (2005)!
!

Apple K-Navigator"
n  Fullscreen scene!

Apple’s Knowledge Navigator, 1992"
n  Envisioning Steve, AI-speak, ethical controversy!

AT+T Connections, 1993"
n  Flexible, extended surfaces!

DoD: Augmented Cognition"

DoD: Augmented Cognition, 2005"
n  Brain channel-overload sensors, auto media-shifting!

Other Cultures: India and China"
n  Cross-Cultural Sci-Fi/HCI trends, patterns!
n  What differences/similarities of Sci-Fi and HCI
among Western, Chinese, or Indian cultures?!
n  Hollywood inﬂuenced by Bollywood danding/
songs and Hong-Kong action cinema, oriented to
ex-USA sales!
n  Future Hollywood SciFi may be affected in future
decades. !
n  Where will cross-cultural Sci-Fi/HCI go in future? !

India: Rise of Cultural Icons"
n  New interest in local comix heroes/heroines!

India: Selected Sci-Fi Films, since
1952, 1/2"
n  Kaadu (The Jungle), 1952, Tamil-American!
l  First Sci-Fi film in Tamil Nadu tells of expedition finding cause of
strange behavior of animals: invasion of woolly mammoths!
n  Kalai Arasi, c. 1960, Tamil"
l  Aliens kidnap Earth girl to teach arts; hero rescues her!
n  Karutha Rathrikal, 1967, Malayam"
l  Doctor takes revenge on uncle’s death with medicine he invented
that creates split personality; first Malayam sci-fi film !
n  Jaithra Yaathra, 1987, Malayalam!
l  Scientist invents locket to make one invisible,battles villain.!
n  Koi... Mil Gaya, 2003, Bollywood"
l  Alien visits, a la E.T and Indian “ The Alien”!
!

1952, 2/3"
n  The Alien, late 1960s, canceled !
l  Alien Mr. Ang visits Bengali urbanite !
n  Patalghar, Bengali"
l  Ailen visits India!
n  Mr. India, Hindi"
l  Superhero film, with super-hero Indian stars!
n  Krrish, Hindi"
l  Superhero film !
n  Dasavathaaram, Tamil"
l  3rd highest grossing Indian film, USA virus threatens earth !

1952, 3/3"
n  Enthiran, Tamil"
l  Scientist makesRobot, lives with it, adds emotions; robo tfalls in
love with his girlfirend; most expensive India film, highest grossing !
n  Action Replayy, Hindi!
n  Rudraksh, 2004, Hindi"
l  Action-adventure film based on Ramayana classical literature !
n  Bharathan, Malayam!
n  Aditya 369 , Tulugu 
 
 
[Source: Wikipedia, with apoloties to academia]!
!

China: Brief, Selected History of
Sci-Fi "
n  Jules Verne imported during late 19th, early 20th!
n  "Yueqiu Zhimindi Xiaoshuo" (月球殖民地小說),
("Lunar Colony"), 1904 !
l  Earliest original Chinese Sci-Fi writing !!
n  Zheng Wenguang, father of Chi Sci-Fi, wrote in 50s,
70s, e.g., "Flying to the Centaur"!
n  Tong Enzheng wrote "Death Ray on a Coral Island”
made into China's ﬁrst Sci-Fi movie, 1980 
!
[Source: Wikipedia, with apologies to academia]!

Death Ray on Coral Island"

Death Ray On Coral Island, 1980 
Author: Tong, Enzheng"
n  First Chinese Sci-Fi, traditional HCI!
!
!!
![Dean Pickles: http://outthereasia.blogspot.com/search/label/movies?max-results=20]!

Raise the Red Lantern, 1991"
n  Cited as like a Chinese Sci-Fi-like ﬁlm!

Japanese Sci-Fi Films: A Selection"
1,778 Stories of Me and My Wife!
20th Century Boys!
The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army!
964 Pinocchio!
A.LI.CE!
Akira (film)!
Alien vs Ninja!
Andromedia!
Appleseed (film)!
Appleseed Ex Machina!
Arcadia of My Youth!
Assault Girls!
Avalon (2001 film)!
Battle in Outer Space!
Be Forever Yamato!
Casshern (film)!
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie!
Cyclops (1987 film)!
Daijōbu, My Friend!
Darkside Blues!
Dead Leaves!
Dead or Alive: Final!
Death Powder!
Dirty Pair: Project Eden!
Electric Dragon 80.000 V!
The End of Evangelion!
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo!
The Face of Another (film)!
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato!
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children!
Final Yamato!
Full Metal Yakuza!
G.I. Samurai!
Gamera 2: Attack of Legion!
Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys!
Gamera vs. Zigra!
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe!
Gantz (live action films)!
Ghost in the Shell (film)!
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence!
Godzilla 2000!
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla!
Godzilla vs. Biollante!
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah!
Godzilla vs. Gigan!
Godzilla vs. Hedorah!
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla!
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II!
Godzilla vs. Megalon!
Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth!
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla!
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters
All-Out Attack!
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.!
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell!
Gunhed (film)!
Invasion of Astro-Monster!
Meatball Machine!
Memories (film)!
Message from Space!
Metropolis (anime)!
Mirai Ninja!
Neo Tokyo (film)!
Paprika (2006 film)!
Patlabor 2: The Movie!
Patlabor: The Movie!
Planzet!
Prophecies of Nostradamus!
Pyrokinesis (film)!
Redline (2009 film)!
The Return of Godzilla!
Returner!
RoboGeisha!
Rubber's Lover!
Sayonara Jupiter (film)!
Screamers (1995 film)!
Seth et Holth!
The Sky Crawlers (film)!
Solar Crisis (film)!
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie!
Space Amoeba!
Space Battleship Yamato (2010 film)!
Space Battleship Yamato: Resurrection!
Space Brothers (manga)!
Specter (film)!
Starship Troopers: Invasion!
Steamboy!
StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops!
Summer Time Machine Blues!
Taitei no Ken!
Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space!
Teito Monogatari Gaiden!
Terror of Mechagodzilla!
Tetsuo II: Body Hammer!
Tetsuo: The Bullet Man!
Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time!
Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (1997 film)!
Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (1983 film)!
Tokyo: The Last War!
Venus Wars!
Vexille!
Virus (1980 film)!
The War in Space!
The War of the Gargantuas!
Wicked City (film)!
WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3!
Yakuza Weapon!
Yamato: The New Voyage!
Zeiram !

Sci-Fi and HCI: Closing Thoughts"
n  Sci-Fi lit/media have innovated and inspired HCI!
n  HCI usually a minor theme of Sci-Fi storytelling!
n  Sci-Fi cinema often avoids UCD issues, extremes!
n  X-Cultural Sci-Fi/HCI trends, patterns unexplored!
n  Ample material to analyze as contexts, prototypes!
n  Tech world and film world can both benefit by
listening, looking, and learning across boundaries!
n  Much to analyze, compare, contrast in detail, e.g.,
films vs. animations, social themes, kids’ Sci-Fi, etc.!

References, Selected/Suggested"
n  Emchowicz, Antoni, and Nunneley, Paul (1999). Future Toys: Robots,
Astronauts, Spaceships, Ray Guns. London. UK: New Cavendish Books.!
n  Google Images, with apologies to academia.!
n  Heads-up and GUIs of the Future: http://hudsandguis.com/tag/guis/!
n  Marcus, Aaron. Personal collection of drawings, science-fiction books,
magazines, videotapes and DVDs, 1950s-2010s.!
n  Robertson, Frank M. (2002). Art of Imagination: 20th Century Visions of
Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy. Portland, Oregon: Collectors
Press.!
n  Science-fiction book trailers taxonomy: “Hogan, Ron [2008]. “Towards a
Taxonomy of Science Fiction Book Trailers” http://www.mediabistro.com/
galleycat/towards-a-taxonomy-of-science-fiction-book-trailers_b7440.
[Checked 17 June 2011]!
n  Wikipedia, with apologies to academia.!

Sci-Fi and CHI, HCI, UX:  
Past, Present, Future"
"Aaron Marcus, President, Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. 
1196 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1F, Berkeley, California 94708-1640,USA 
Tel: +1-510-601-0994, Fax: +1-510-527-1994 
Email: Aaron.Marcus@AMandA.com, Web: www.AMandA.com!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AMandAssociates!
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/aaron-marcus-and-associates-inc-!
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AMandAssociates!
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amandaberkeley!
Ebook: http://www.amanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/AM+A.SciFi
+HCI.eBook.17Aug12.pdf !

UXPADC13 Workshop: "UX in Sci-Fi Movies and TV"

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UXPADC13 Workshop: "UX in Sci-Fi Movies and TV"