We all sleep with that Star Trek give us the iPad and countless other amazing equipment — but the classic blank escapade show also give us some awing breakthroughs in user interface design . Here ’s a rundown of the moral that Star Trek teaches about interaction design , from the new Bible Make it So : Interaction Design Lessons from Sci - Fi by Nathan Shedroff and Christopher Noessel .
Chapter 3: Visual Interfaces
One of the historically more important shifts in sci - fi optical innovation occurred when Star Trek replaced controls based on mechanically skillful , lighted buttons in the original video serial with the backlit hint gore in its first sequel series , Star Trek : The Next contemporaries . The new interface was come to not just for its visual disparateness but also for its comprehensiveness , extensibility , and influence .
As mentioned in Chapter 2 , the reasonableness for this alteration was the TV series ’ budget : the creators only did n’t have the funds to recreate display and controls made from so many separate buttons across the vast surfaces of the Enterprise ’s bridge . Production architect Michael Okuda and his team needed a much less expensive alternative . They looked to techniques such as those used in Logan ’s trial nine years sooner , which featured tack of plastic printed with graphics and backlit ( at left ) .
Once Okuda ’s team decided on this technique , it freed them from the toll and constraints of strong-arm interfaces , opening up grand intention chance . Whereas this technique was used only for displays in Logan ’s Run , however , in Star Trek : The Next Generation it was used for mastery as well , presaging touch - screen engineering .
The outcome is the estimator interface predict LCARS ( Library Computer Access and Retrieval System ) . It consists of a black background with a condensed sans serif typeface ( SWISS 911 Ultra Compressed BT ) used throughout . It boast rounded - corner background graphics in bland , pastel blues , purples , and oranges with areas of bright , gamy intensity color for both computer graphic and school text . These swooping background graphics make frames along a control grid , providing a structure into which buttons , labels , informational diagrams , and video are set . This graphic system supported a extensive diversity of applications , diagrams , dominance , and Starfleet applied science . The LCARS port was so lasting that it was used systematically across three Star Trek TV series and four films . It even inspired two thematic translation , to its “ past ” and its “ hereafter , ” help to reenforce the evolution of technology in this existence .
To differentiate the user interface of the prequel , Enterprise , a dissimilar visual language was created for the touch - screen displays mix with physical controls . These displays were less integrated into panels and control surface than those seen in the LCARS interface . The Enterprise user interface may have been inspired by the LCARS interface ( and foreshadow it ) , but it is n’t technically part of it . The virtual portion of this port used low - vividness color frames but buttons with more saturated colors , as well as a 2 - five hundred blending effect on the on - silver screen controls that mimicked physical release .
The Enterprise graphic voice communication is almost totally rectangular , and all data and control are contained within closed , rectangular windows that do not overlap . There are very few round elements ( though several of the windowpane frames have a round “ anchor ” in the upper remaining corner ) , and a few rectangular buttons overlap their frames . These component gave this series ’ interfaces a distinct yet related appearance while introducing limit touchscreen capacity .
A future variant of the LCARS user interface comes in the 4th TV series , Star Trek : Voyager . In the “ Relativity ” episode , a Starfleet ship from the futurity employ a limited LCARS user interface foretell TCARS ( Temporal Computer Access and Retrieval System ) . The TCARS interface has famous difference , although its lineage is clear : the black background panels persist , as do the contact screens . But the framing graphics apply curved Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe based on long ellipse and a predominantly blue chromaticity . Several buttons have curved sides , based on ovals and not circles . In some screens , orotund elements launch radiate grids instead of the vertical gridiron seen in the LCARS interface . In addition to the plane underframe graphics , several are given dimensionality with blending , although with a softer impression than in endeavor .
These changes are enough to suggest the almost 200 - yr evolution of the TCARS interface from the fundamental elements of the LCARS interface . It answer to help audiences understand this leap in time without being confront with something too unfamiliar .
In addition to the LCARS user interface found in Starfleet ships in Star Trek , many of the same underlying elements are used in the port of other races seen throughout the twenty-fourth one C , across the series ( Star Trek : The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Voyager ) as well as the photographic film associated with them . The large spot - screen surface with black backgrounds remain , but the colors , frame shapes , layouts , and typefaces are usually changed to make them look somewhat decided . The overall issue is to make them all feel current with each other , of exchangeable technology , but specialized to the cultures that use them .
Lesson : Creative combination of even common stylistic choices create a unequalled appearance
One of the most powerful way to differentiate an port , whether for sci - fi or real life , is to make an original color scheme , typographic treatment , and arrangement of displays and controls . This is no surprisal to graphical or visual couturier , but many clients ( and director ) shy away from being original because they are leery of presenting their substance abuser or audiences with something too unfamiliar . However , as long as the visual factor are appropriate , do n’t create mental confusion , and facilitate understanding , this is one of the best ways to make a unique or differentiated product trade name or user interface experience .
you’re able to get 10 % off the cover damage of Make it So : Interaction Design Lessons from Sci - Fi , by Nathan Shedroff and Christopher Noessel , by going toRosenfeldMedia.comand go into the code “ io9 ” . The book is also available on Amazon and elsewhere .
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