[IxDA Discuss] Survey: Sci-Fi and Interface Design

[Jeff Axup]

Chris,

A very interesting topic! I will fill out the questionnaire, but why are you
focusing on film and theatre? By far in my opinion, the best work in the
cyberpunk field is in book form. For example, if you want to trace the
design of many current technologies such as the Internet, or immersive
interfaces (such as Second Life) you need to go back to the early works of
Gibson, Sterling, and Stephenson to see how these well read classics likely
shaped what was actually built. While film sci-fi has created some
interesting prototypes (e.g. the Island, Minority Report) of concepts, they
usually don't have the depth to them that the books had already fleshed out
much earlier.

-Jeff


On 8/7/07, Chris Noessel <chrisnoessel at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Hi, IxDA-ers. I am currently writing a book with Nathan Shedroff regarding
> sci-fi's influence on interface design (and design's influence on sci-fi).
> The
> work will include critical analyses of popular and influential properties,
> references to prior works on the topics, tracing of interface concepts
> across
> various sci-fi properties, views of practitioners from both the CHI and
> film industries, and lessons learned from science fiction that are
> applicable to
> interface design.To that end, we invite the members of the IxD mailing
> list
> to participate in the following survey. Answer as much or as little as you
> like.
> Note that we have deliberately constrained ourselves to the (mostly)
> visual
> mediums of television and cinema.
>
>
>
> 1. Do you consider yourself a sci-fi fan? If so, what are
> your favorite movies or programs and why? If not, why not? 2. What are
> your favorite interfaces from science fiction
> films and television or your favorite interface moments?
>
>
>
>
>
> 3. What are some of your other sources of inspiration for
> your work? Has there been a particular technology or designer you found
> influential? If so, tell us about it.
>
> 4. Have you ever been inspired in your interface design by a
> particular scene or a technology from science fiction? If so, what science
> fiction was it? How did it influence your work? Did you share the source
> of
> your inspiration with colleagues or clients?
>
>
>
> 5. Have you ever gleaned practical lessons about interaction
> design from science fiction? If so, what was it?6. How do you respond to
> bad interface design in science
> fiction? Are there any particularly bad interfaces you can recall from
> science
> fiction? If so, what are they and what made them so bad?7. Have you ever
> chosen to purchase a particular device,
> piece of software, or electronic device because it reminded you of
> something
> you'd seen in sci-fi before? If so, tell us about it.8. We will be
> reporting most of the results from the survey in
> aggregate. If we would like to include some of your direct responses, how
> should we credit you? (For example, by full name or by email address? Is
> there
> a company name we can include?)
>
> Please DO NOT reply to the ixda list, as that'll make a lot of noise that
> will upset list members. INSTEAD, email completed surveys to:
> ixda.100.makeitso@ neverbox.com.
>
> The book is currently planned for publication in Spring of
> 2008. The earlier we receive responses the better a chance there will be
> that
> your responses will be read and included in the survey.Thanks for your
> time and shared interest!
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Thanks,
Jeff
____________________________________________________________________________
Jeff Axup, Ph.D.
Principal Consultant, Mobile Community Design Consulting, San Diego

Research:    Mobile Group Research Methods, Social Networks, Group Usability
E-mail:        axup <at> userdesign.com
Blog:           http://mobilecommunitydesign.com
Moblog:       http://memeaddict.blogspot.com
____________________________________________________________________________