alt.hn

8/1/2026 at 10:47:24 PM

Anime User Interfaces

 https://animeuserinterface.tumblr.com

by akyuu

8/2/2026 at 7:53:35 AM

If you enjoyed these UIs, I highly recommend this piece in Animation Obsessive about how some of the early anime light effects were achieved:

https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/dangerous-light

Keu quote:

You have the normally painted animation, and you have a mask for the lighting element which is mostly black, leaving a hole where it shall shine... Repeat for each glowing element with a different color. First you film the animation, then rewind. Second [exposure] is the matte, with a light under the table switched on. Usually you will have a color filter or gel in front of the camera now. This pass will create some lighting with a sharp edge. Sometimes an additional frosted gel is used for blurring that shine, but that takes some light inside the edge of the matte which may not be desired. In that case a third pass is done with the same matte, but out of focus, or with a slightly frosted gel, and/or some additional effects lens

by calligram

8/2/2026 at 1:18:15 AM

Frustrating that these aren't labelled! What's this NASA-ish one from? https://64.media.tumblr.com/75c79a0906e422a7072b9148b52d9501...

I didn't spot any of the weirdpunk machinery from Wings of Honneamise:

https://www.inetres.com/gp/anime/woh/woh07.jpg

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaYuAvpp7S6/

Or Golden Boy's computer made out of paper: https://youtu.be/A1R1Du2PsZ4?t=610

Or its Japanese-phonetically-respelled SunOS rc script: https://youtu.be/A1R1Du2PsZ4?t=1196

Or any of the computer bits in that episoder really. By the way don't watch Golden Boy if there are any people who are not, uh, extremely cultured around.

by twic

8/2/2026 at 1:22:45 AM

> What's this NASA-ish one from?

Uchū Kyōdai

by justsomehnguy

8/2/2026 at 3:14:06 AM

At a glance, Battle Programmer Shirase and Patlabor also seem to be absent.

by wanda

8/2/2026 at 3:04:15 AM

...but do watch Golden Boy when given the opportunity!

by manbash

8/1/2026 at 11:47:59 PM

These are so sick. As a 34 year old whose first computers were already Windows 98, it's so weird to imagine a past where this is what the future of computing looked like, as opposed to what we actually got.

by jaqalopes

8/2/2026 at 1:13:10 AM

Just because recent history has been extremely user hostile, doesn't mean the future (or present) can't look like this.

What these anime-futuristic designs have in common are an abundance of information and controls. They're clearly inspired by the equipment that was contemporary to the art at that time (construction, military, etc.)

The consumer interfaces we have today were dumbed down due to low computer literacy and the resulting low trust in consumers to not shoot themselves in the foot, but even Apple eventually had to dumb it down less with each new iPhone.

"AI" seems to be the breaking point for the user hostility, but it also opens up new opportunities for a lot more information to clutter a dashboard. It can't automate things reliably, but it can make information more accessible, so we'll see what's next.

by sublinear

8/2/2026 at 1:51:53 AM

I feel like you've got it the other way around: high computer literacy as the assumed default was a result of devices and interfaces that were impossible to use without it.

It's the same thing with cars: a lot of people not knowing how to maintain their cars is the result, not cause, of car designs and machinery becoming more durable and more idiot-proof.

by crooked-v

8/2/2026 at 2:37:38 AM

I don't think we have much of an argument here since your opinion is so opposite to mine.

Apart from some details like responsive web design and other miscellaneous interoperability and accessibility efforts, the past few decades of interface designs were not progress.

We gimped the living shit out of everything to narrow the scope of every product and extract more money from the consumer.

I mentioned AI because tech is only becoming a dead end when the consumer choice is illiteracy. It's pretty clear that's reversing and people do want a lot more information and control.

by sublinear

8/2/2026 at 3:51:47 AM

I don't think you are so opposite.

You are saying the chicken came first and they are saying the egg came first.

by LelouBil

8/2/2026 at 4:13:14 AM

Why must you trivialize this? I definitely explained what the disagreement is.

by sublinear

8/2/2026 at 2:06:05 AM

Was hoping for more Serial Experiments Lain. There are references in it to the Apple OS codename Copeland or Rhapsody-- I don't remember which.

by EvanAnderson

8/2/2026 at 2:53:04 AM

Copeland! I was quite surprised to see that myself.

by Philpax

8/2/2026 at 4:21:40 PM

I also liked how the "Be" in "to Be continued" resembles BeOS.

by omoikane

8/2/2026 at 12:52:40 AM

Lots of classics here, but was also hoping to see the ZERO System from Gundam Wing (1995):

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/ZERO_System?file=W_ZERO_Syste...

Later in life I would think of it as being inspired by the UK's SAGE defense system, even though it probably wasn't. You can't exactly see from the image, but the screen is a glass dome:

https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/real-time-computi...

by chao-

8/2/2026 at 2:47:22 AM

> Lots of classics here

Are there? there is one evangelion one, almost no actual classics. I have no idea who is liking this, or why.

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:01:52 AM

Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Serial Experiments Lain, Space Brothers, Dirty Pair, a few Gundams. You don't have to agree, of course. There is no accounting for taste.

by chao-

8/2/2026 at 3:04:24 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:19:32 AM

I think the images are awesome and inspiring. If there are greener pastures for you, why bother commenting? Go do whatever makes you happy. I enjoy seeing this cool art.

by josephg

8/2/2026 at 3:29:18 AM

Lol anyone can post 50 pictures and post it, most are not of UIs. Maybe aim higher and ask more of people.

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:36:19 AM

So? Anyone could make this set of a pictures. But we didn't.

I enjoyed seeing these pictures. If you think you can make better content, do so. I look forward to upvoting what you make.

But until then, telling people to "investigate themselves" for enjoying the 'wrong thing' isn't quality content. Its just wasting everyone's time. I like what I like.

by josephg

8/3/2026 at 7:29:26 AM

Vibe.

This really encapsulates what something i love about the internet that is suvtle and hard to put my finger on. I like getting exposure to random information that i just passively incorporate into my understanding of the world. Its the magic of finding reddit as a tween

by samrus

8/2/2026 at 12:17:06 AM

Good old Metal Skin Panic Madox 01. What NOT to do when a fully equipped battle exoskeleton falls off the back of a truck and into the junkyard you work at...

The opening is worth a watch if you have a minute 12. Airwolf flashing blueprint feel, although soundtrack wasn't as good. Lotta weird little easter eggs if you can pause while the text is shown.

by oofoe

8/2/2026 at 12:50:54 AM

What I'm finding interesting here is that the "user interface" is either the screen (what I/we normally expect of the term 'user interface') or the input/interaction interface or both.

Cockpit images are interesting in an input context because there are buttons and switches surrounding the user.

by BLKNSLVR

8/2/2026 at 12:03:22 AM

I'm partial to anything that looks like a nuclear control room (saw one in this list). It's like a while different generation of UX but derived from totally different parts, goals, users, and of course a lot of the people who designed these had been military. Not a lot of room for fluff, lots of room for clarity.

Love to see the dizzying array of ways people imagined data can be shown. Everything these days feels so flat. Appreciate the share.

by robviren

8/2/2026 at 12:03:17 AM

One GIF is a clip from the Hollywood movie WarGames (1983).

Not that there isn't animation in it, but... the animation was projected onto a large screen and then that screen with other things around it was filmed.

by Findecanor

8/2/2026 at 1:52:12 PM

I see the one you’re talking about, but the digits beneath the tic-tac-toe look hand drawn. I think this is a recreation of that interface for use in a series. I’ll have to research to be sure.

by jagged-chisel

8/2/2026 at 6:51:56 AM

I need source for each image

by marethyu

8/1/2026 at 11:35:03 PM

oh yeah, this is nice

by cgannett

8/2/2026 at 1:45:35 AM

[dead]

by pizzaballs

8/2/2026 at 3:07:47 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:29:46 AM

Right now I see you are 11 of 34 comments on this post and all follow this same dismissive tone. Lighten up and let people enjoy stuff.

by saratogacx

8/2/2026 at 2:42:05 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:05:54 AM

As opposed the the 30 AI-generated blog posts / "think pieces" on the front page every day, lol. This is hardly the problem with HN's front page. And who says it's low effort? A curated collection of themed screenshots from across dozens of television shows sounds fairly high effort to me. You do realize if you set out to do this yourself, it would entail dozens of hours of watching content keeping an eye out for things to add?

by applfanboysbgon

8/2/2026 at 3:09:05 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/1/2026 at 11:47:55 PM

It is maybe 60 pictures, and a decent chunk of them have absolutely no focus on UI.

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 12:11:48 AM

Inaccurate. Every one has a UI.

by khazhoux

8/2/2026 at 2:18:55 AM

There is one with a screen flashing on some dudes, I waited 15 secs. No UI https://64.media.tumblr.com/e9ddbc48b17353046fa5ac73cfc289ef...

and more, come on man

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 9:31:38 AM

I think it's still showing an absurd UI if it is flashing like that, and it certainly does show the monitor.

by SoMomentary

8/2/2026 at 12:06:27 AM

What do you think user interfaces are? User interfaces are how users transmit or recieve information. Any information display is a user interface. Any button or other control is a user interface. There are even user interfaces that don't have to do with computers, like the user interface of a book (among that being its cover, pages and the information written on them). I don't see a single image here that doesn't contain a user interface.

The acronym 'UI' as typically used in computing often refers to specific types of user interfaces. That is not how TFA uses more generally 'User Interfaces', which practically covers anything that exposes information to or receives information from users

by LoganDark

8/2/2026 at 2:21:50 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:30:57 AM

This Tumblr page first appeared on Wayback Machine in 2017. By 2019 many of the images that we see today were on the page including the image you linked to.

This collection was almost certainly hand-curated over time by a single individual who likes the wacky sci-fi aesthetic. Some classic animes in there and some I haven't seen. Pretty cool.

Definitely not slop. And definitely not an astroturfing campaign to sell graphics tablets.

by imprettypointle

8/2/2026 at 2:51:42 AM

Every comment I don’t like is AI and every post I don’t like is slop.

by phoghed

8/2/2026 at 3:05:43 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 3:10:56 AM

They said TFA not meaning an actual article dude. You’re taking it overly literally just to score a point, and it’s obvious to anyone reading this.

You accused them of being AI when there’s zero indication their comment is AI authored.

Roughly 1/88th of the images on the tumbler page don’t have a UI visible.

Maybe take your own advice.

by phoghed

8/2/2026 at 4:49:42 AM

Does TFA not always mean the submission? (I could have worded it better.)

Flashing lights to communicate information counts as a user interface.

by LoganDark

8/2/2026 at 1:31:15 AM

For folks who want a real world implementation, Wacom has not yet sold out of their Special Edition Evangelion MovinkPad Pro 14:

https://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/wacom-movinkpad-pro-14-...

by WillAdams

8/2/2026 at 1:39:34 AM

I own this tablet: For the Japanese price, it is worth it to buy it for the bundled accessories.

The tablet itself: Other than the screen and APU being good, it is a heavily stripped down tablet missing a lot of the features that other tablets in its price range or even cheap tablets will have. No haptics, biometrics, and so on. It is very focused on the screen interaction experience and that is basically it.

by Washuu

8/2/2026 at 1:10:23 PM

I view it being stripped down and focused (and _not_ having biometrics) as a feature --- kind of annoyed my Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360s have a fingerprint sensor, and I've rather consciously _not_ removed the film covering from them.

If I wasn't looking at a stack of tablets I don't use as much as I arguably ought (Toshiba Encore 2 Write 10, Raspad v3, spare SGB Pro 360, Wacom ArtZ pen display) I'd not have been able to resist it.

by WillAdams

8/2/2026 at 3:09:51 AM

[flagged]

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 4:40:01 AM

Blatant about what? I actually own this tablet and I bought it for reading sheet music and doodling.(Also for Android development for a project that I'm working on.)

The Eva interface is pretty cool, but it is not worth what I paid for it. I would recommend people look for other options or maybe wait for something better to come out.

by Washuu

8/2/2026 at 10:54:27 AM

That said, having lived through the dark days when Wacom wasn't making tablets and licensing only a few, it is quite nice that they are now manufacturing/licensing so many options.

Not sure when something better or more interesting is likely to come out in terms of UI --- the days of pen-centric UI experimentation seem to be over (I miss Go Corp.'s PenPoint, kind of wish I'd bought a Momenta, and these days even look back on Windows for Pen Computing and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition w/ fondness) --- arguably, it's been quite downhill since Microsoft crippled styluses as a dumbed-down 11th touch input for scrolling in Fall Creators Update. Windows 11 is barely usable, but I still have to keep the Settings App open so I can toggle back-and-forth between using the stylus as a mouse or no, and the only browser which supports disabling scrolling w/ a stylus is Firefox, so I have to remember a specific Github page which has the instructions for toggling that UI setting.

by WillAdams

8/2/2026 at 3:06:41 AM

Is this just an Ad for a tablet?

by gregdaniels421

8/2/2026 at 10:48:26 AM

Example of a real-world implementation of an Anime-inspired User Interface --- is that not on-topic in a discussion of Anime User Interfaces?

by WillAdams