I can’t help but think how prescient Micheal Okuda was when he designed the flat, touchscreen-only LCARS (Library Computer Access and Retrieval System) interfaces for Star Trek: THe Next Generation that first aired way back in 1987, rationalising that he was looking to create a visual style which implied a simplified, abstract system of controlling vastly complex processes in a user-friendly, high-level manner. 32 years on flat GUIs and touchscreen-everywhere interfaces are closing in on his vision. Truly remarkable.
The main advantage for Star Trek though was that this kind of device is really easy on the prop department. It’s just a plane of smoke glass with lights shining through a cutout, easy to add the button of the week.
