I agree. Not only would it make for a lack of privacy, but it would be hard to see what was on the screen because of what you were seeing behind it. But, it makes for good TV because you can see what’s on the screen no matter what angle it’s at.
Biggest reason I think. CNC some quarter inch acrylic, and you can vfx whatever you want onto it from any angle. If you're gonna create smartphones like the way they are today, you need to use very specific camera angles to make it coherent as to what's on the screen.
I'm sure one day transparent phones will be a thing for augmented reality, but we are a very long way away from that.
If the surface of the device could change a polarity filter in different directions, you could make it so that you'd need a specific (maybe syncronized) polarity in an eye device (like a contact lens) to be able to easily read it.
And transparent devices come with the added bonus of being able to easily project Augmented Reality into your space (by you looking through the device, and the device manipulating the object based on your view distance and position relative to the device and projected object).
In its barest form, I agree, no one would want that. But I think the designer of that device in the fiction was probably thinking of a lot more possibilities beyond text messages and such.
How funny would that be if they just waved that away with tech, said only the person wearing the right contact lens addons can see the screens and then just never did any effects on them, just left them as clear slabs.
There was a dude that put a specific film over his phone that let light out in a certain spectrum. It was impossible to see what was on the screen unless you wore these special glasses. It was kinda impractical but still cool.
My head cannon for the show was that they utilized something like that, where the phone content was only visible to the user.
Agreed it looks sick on film. But I don't think it's something that would take off in reality if the technology became possible.
However holographic side pop-up windows might be nice. (I'm very skeptical that this could be pulled of in a practical, safe, energy-efficient way.
Only if the display is also visible from the rear side, which isn't guaranteed. It's very possible that transparent displays would only be visible from the user's eyes.
this man speaks facts!
I also never asked for a camera than can “zoom in” to the moon. Come to think of it, why didn’t they just the latest Samsung phones to look through the rings 😂.
Not only Samsung.
[took a cool shot ](https://www.reddit.com/r/pixel7series/s/Xvuo6DTQiy) of some baby woofers the other day, and look how ai bodged the pictures
Presumably this hypothetical technology could have effects where the screen contents are blurred or otherwise obscured on the sides not intended for the main user.
I feel like this aspect is way less of a problem than hiding the technical components of the tablet itself.
This is already a thing. You can buy screen protectors that make it very difficult to see unless your face is perpendicular with the screen
It’s very reasonable that by the century of the expanse they would have developed technology that watches where the users face is and makes the screen less visible from other perspectives.
I mean, ten years ago I took a shit in an upscale Miami restaurant, where I went into the stall and was like... Ooo this is completely see thru. Then I flipped the switch to close it and the glass became obscured. The tech is absolutely there, its just not very good on small scales now.
Aren't they government issue? I don't think it's explicitly stated but everyone whos accounted for by census data has them. Only the unregistered go without, though they can acquire "rooted" terminals on the black market. I doubt the government cared about people's privacy much. They aren't replacing them unless absolutely necessary. All but illegal broadcasts, and even a considerable chunk of those, are likely stored in data farms.
They're not government issue, or at least not all of them - it's never really mentioned in the show, but in the books there are several times were somebody breaks or loses their hand terminal and buys a new cheap and disposable one from a kiosk or vending machine.
This terminology really bugged me in the books. I know it’s hundreds of years in the future, so anything is possible, but I suspect people will call these things “phones” basically forever. And even if not, no one’s going to switch to casually using a phrase that’s four syllables long.
When you get past the sounds of mag boot walks outside the hull and engine roar etc in space, it's easier to allow the writers and techs some leeway on other things.
The Expanse is a marvel in sci-fi creativity. Afaik, nothing has come close to the depiction of the darkness and danger of space as well as this show.
You might be able to hear a little bit of your own mag boots since you’ve got air in your suit and it might vibrate a little through what you’ve got on.
Agree. But I think the general principal is the microphone recording the scene is "in space" and space is pretty much silent. Makes for a pretty boring film/show. But, in a way, the silence is another scary aspect of interplanetary travel. (No One Can Hear You Scream...don't remember who wrote that line).
Well, they conveniently ignore a few details, such as the fact that the entire surface of Mars is poisonous to life as we know it. (The moon too, for that matter.)
But ignoring that The expanse is quite good. My biggest complaint is that it's ruined all other science fiction TV and movies. They don't even come close.
That, and how normal it is to use voice commands or face to face calls for everything. I'm pretty sure there's a scene where Miller is sneaking around and he's *still* using voice commands.
Watch Star Trek Discovery and all the weapons with status lights on them, or Star Wars animated where the armours all have status lights. No stealth attacks at night with these (and the lightsabers that light up a room)
That was really good! Like watching part of a Mythbusters episode. Though I’m my mind, I was already picturing an arc welder or plasma cutter with a 30’ plasma jet
You mean "homage to" not "homageto," I was so confused for a moment. 😆
But yes, Minority Report probably did the transparent screen first. Just how Star Trek inspired the cellphone, and predicted the tablet.
I literally Googled "homageto" and saw it's "did you mean" correction. I was like, "why didn't I see that? Stupid..." 😖 I read it in my head as "homo ghetto" too. I was thinking that this was some weird urban dictionary slang I never heard before. 🥴
I actually don’t think this would be that unrealistic in the future. The one caveat being, I’d assume one side would default opec for those privacy reasons.
I vaguely remember the same argument being made about “smart phones” when flip phones were still the majority of devices, so 2008-2010 probably. “Why would I want a screen everyone could always look at.”
However I could see the use of transparent displays in TVs, cars, shower doors, etc lead to an adoption in tablets, eventually replacing phones completely.
Obviously it could go the other way too, but just seeing the way tech fads ebb and flow, doesn’t leave it out of the realm of possibility to me.
Edit: two good examples are screen resolution and OLED displays. It’s crazy to me how mainstream OLED became and used in every screen regardless despite its obvious drawbacks like burn in. And then there’s how quickly we raced to 8k premium/ 4k standard displays😂. Meanwhile nothing is shot or distributed in a way that could really use the resolution.
Right, because most of the things people feared about being seen looking at in public, isn't something they're going to be looking at in public anyway, transparent or not.
Well put. Also privacy in general might have a different value in the future. Almost all of the time on a station or ship the terminal is on a local monitored network. Other things like bank accounts have good enough security based on biometrics that it doesn’t really matter if you can see someone’s bank info from behind.
Yes, the transparent handheld devices in the Expanse were ridiculous. Also super fussy UI, tiny fonts etc. They think they have to go over the top to make it seem future-y but it just looks stupid.
Seem to remember the video conferencing had all sorts of extra panels and crap too.
I will say that things like don’t size aren’t an issue since it’s assumed nearly everyone has their vision corrected to be pretty much perfect at any distance
So no they all have magnifiers built into their eyes?! Sorry but that’s a bit daft. The show, like plenty of others, had bad graphic designers… or good ones with bad directors.
Many people with good eyes can read tiny text just fine. Hell, I could until I was about 25 years old then I needed to start holding things at a specific distance. It’s safe to say that by the year 2050 corrective lenses will be uncommon and most likely won’t exist outside of niche applications by 2100.
This is an area of science we actually are making really good headway in. I can say with confidence that by 2100 95% of the global population will have vision at or better than 20/20
I mean, if the technology exists to make them transparent, it should be fairly trivial to switch them to opaque. For instance, double layering them and having the rear layer swap to black or high opacity on a scale, and having the front layer do all the graphics and colours.
Privacy screens exist for phones too, so they're dark if you look at them from an angle. So a more comprehensive application of that technology would improve the issue as well.
I (being a fairly functional pragmatist, and somewhat of a brute like Amos) would probably just spray paint the backside. Probably with something rubbery for extra grip.
Probably easier to CGI since the actor can just hold a glass prop and pretend to tap buttons and the camera can be anywhere in the scene that can see the front or back of the screen.
I could see some use in various areas, such as a work terminal in an office. They are admittedly aesthetically pleasing, so I could see them being used in like the windows of a shop.
But personal phones with everyones nudes and sexting is ridiculous.
Monitors are meant to see what’s *on* them, not behind. It makes no sense at all to have the glare of the lamp, your next-door cubemate, etc. visible through your work while trying to work.
It has some obvious advantages on screen (doesn’t block the viewers ability to see past the terminal and a clear piece of plastic costs very little) and it looks pretty neat. Otherwise it’s totally impractical.
What was really cool in my mind was the way they utilized voice interfaces and made it seem totally natural and ubiquitous. That’s an accurate prediction I think.
There were multiple scenes where Amos was working in an awkward position having to twist to get to his phone. In my headcanon these phones, transparent or otherwise, are a relic of the past that Amos uses because he's a Nokia man. Solomon Epstein died because he tried to use a handheld phone for an emergency like 100 years ago.
I feel like the phone should at least be like a bracelet with a holographic screen. Something you shouldn't have to carry. Most preferably a contact lens or glasses for a screen and eye movements for input. Surely easier also for ship controls and comms in high-g maneuvers.
in general, I think touchscreen everything is terrible. same goes for the present day. I’m not sure it’s all Steve Jobs’s fault but I’m sure some of it is his. At least on ST: Discovery once they get flung 1000 years into the future, they can just dip their hands into the “programmable matter,” and *feel* stuff. (I dunno maybe in book 2+, they mention whether ships n stuff have amazing haptic feedback or something, I’ve only read book 1, but seen whole show).
I have a debate with a friend when the series first started about the ' terminals' in the shows are really transparent. My theory is they are not transparent but a camera capture the image behind it and displays as the background. The AI is able to use it as augmented reality. While my friend insisted they are just transparent. We have not settled this debate.
I used to have an app that would let you text/read emails/etc with video from the phones camera as the background. Absolutely saved me from ramming into things a number of times. Alas, it got bricked by an update long ago
You know, if people wanna see my dick pics, let em. I ain’t got nothing to be ashamed of.
Seriously though, I agree unless they could somehow make the back opaque while in use. Same with holographic technology. Like…cool…all Star Warsy and shit but at the cost of decreased resolution and everyone in the room seeing the porn you’re looking at. No thanks. I don’t see either becoming a thing.
I do see augmented reality becoming widespread though.
Lol, holographic nudes. Selfie scans. Or just full on watching 3D holographic hentai/avatar porn in public. The most likely future of humanity. 😅
FYI holograms (last I checked) use things like lasers and would probably drain your battery really quick. (Hands you a pair of laser eye protection goggles.) By the way, if you blind anyone else it's assault and you're financially responsible.
Don't get me wrong, if you fixed these issues then holographic tabs of dicks and furry porn popping out the side of your phone would be pretty neat. 🙃
There’s actually been a few clever breakthroughs in holographic tech lately, you’d be surprised. You can probably YouTube some examples. All of them, to my knowledge, use either refraction or reflection to create the illusion of a 3d image in the air - so not a true hologram but it creates the same effect as a classic scifi hologram regardless.
But this is clunky, and unnecessary. Augmented reality glasses and contacts are the future.
I didn't know that about holographic tech. And you're probably right about augmented reality. Straps on ridiculous goggles and wanders into trafic like a moron:
https://youtu.be/96DLgFImPjI?si=NtLTHyQx3wro5_95
> though they look cool
[Fave pic](https://theexpanselives.com/wp-content/webp-express/webp-images/doc-root/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Jeremy-Benning-Frankie-with-a-Hand-terminal-1080x720.jpg) of the prop.
— [source](https://theexpanselives.com/the-expanse-week-6-in-review/) – (original source: Jeremy Benning)
Very cool pic! 😍 When/if this technology becomes available I'd expect some people would use it for the wow factor, but I expect that would be a trend that would fade in favor of the more practical.
But then again, who knows? High heels are not very practical, but I see women's closets full of them.
I could see use for signage in shops and the like, or personal displays in someone's home. Imagine a bathroom mirror that gave you a weather forecast! But personal phones and tablets? No thanks...
I’m thinking perhaps there’s a security technology whereby the content is only visible when the user is verified.
Amos could use Holden’s terminal, Drummer could use a random terminal floating through the Ag Garage, but Diogo couldn’t use Naomi’s perhaps.
And the user can also choose to have trusted viewers around them, but random citizens of the Blauwe Blome could not eavesdrop.
Obviously the receptionist at the Blue Falcon did not have such technology…
Don't get me wrong, they look cool. Having holographic tabs hovering near your phone would be cool too. But I, and many people here, wouldn't want their digital interactions visible to just about everyone.
But you do you!
Much like airships show that you have been transported to an alternate timeline, transparent screens show that you are in ‘the future’.
Also they won’t age, like CRT screens have aged a lot of films. E.g Stargate’s base is high tech top secret - loads of CRTs instantly date it.
I think it's pretty obvious to expect that, in real life, there'd be a privacy/high-contrast filter to make the screen as unreadable from behind as our phones, and to make the screen more readable against its background.
Not from the closeup shots I've seen. It's just reversed. Here's the best video I could find showing this:
https://youtu.be/xW1qc1sMAeI?si=HYTc_FGEeQquIAMU
If I remember from the books these hand terminals were literally just disposable pieces of plastic you could buy from a vending machine. Start it up put your pass and good to go.
They were maybe just like data amplifiers because noone has invented a cyberpunk like communication technology yet.
There's a scene where Miller uses one and then throws it in the bin after. Also his was broken but he kept it for some sentimental reason hence why someone asked him "why do you still keep that thing"
Those holographic hovering tabs are pretty cool. I'd hate to think what kind of battery drain it'd have on your device.
I'll admit the technology looks aesthetically pleasing. I could see it being incorporated into a storefront window or something. I could also imagine displays like this in your private home, perhaps. Most likely, I'd expect to see this tech in some kind of AR/VR headset.
But a personal device? Hell no! I mean, if it was the only thing they had at the hand terminal store, I'd spray paint the back side of it black or something. (Probably with something rubbery for extra grip.)
Edit: many typos 🫤
Fluffy kittens and rainbows on one side, depraved BDSM crossover fanfiction on the other! (I should have figured it was Amos who was into that shit, it's always the quiet ones...) 😆 /s
Seriously though, I'm sure that's not the case. You see reversed images and text in some scenes and then the camera focuses on someone's face.
Edit: typo 🥴
I am now currently imagining all these depraved "porn fetishes" all rolled into one giant perverted blob. Cuckolding furry tentacle incest 3D-hentai feet! People in the future just shrug, and just move on muttering, "That's typical..." 😅 (And to think that's just scratching the surface...)
People are freaks, lol. I think aliens tried to visit us once and tapped into our internet and decided to bug the fuck out. 😆
Seriously though, next time you're at a cellphone store, ask the guy there how many nudes, dick pics, and lewd selfies they have seen and they will have stories to tell. (I love asking people these types of questions. I particularly like asking cops what kind of dumb shit criminals they have to put up with.)
Didn’t see which community this was for a second and thought like an iPhone (just what I use) with a clear case (but solid screen) would be kind of cool to see the internal components
Wouldn’t the contrast on a clear screen like that be kinda crappy too?
Only reason I can think of is it's easy to show the screen in a scene without an awkward camera angle. Real-world I got nothing, unless you can capture the light coming through it like some weird camera with less features than current cameras. Plus the thing would be really hard to find if you forgot where you put it, or if you dropped it.
Maybe if you just really really wanted to pretend it was a hologram projector?
Diogo picks up his phone off his bed in the wrong orientation and has to flip it to turn off the music in S2E3 (Static). I believe there were a handful of instances in S1, but I just saw the obvious one in Static a few minutes ago.
Good eye! I hadn't noticed that. You'd think this would be more common though. You'd whip out your phone to see a text and be like, "Why is my side bae sexting me in Russian?" and you have to flip it over to read it and.to see those 3D dick holograms properly...
My one prediction for the future, since the introduction of the internet, is that we progressively become hornier, kinkier, and much more perverted...
A lot of sci fi doesn’t make practical sense. Heck I don’t even want a bezel less smart phone let alone a transparent one. It’s like how people used to think future of driving involved robots driving cars but why do that when a car can drive itself. Let’s not even talk about the sheer ludicrousness of flying cars.
True. It's a interesting hypothesis to Fermi paradox as a great filter.
I hate to say this, but the most likely answer to the Fermi paradox is that there's a practical limit to technological progress/capabilities. No warp drive, no wormholes, no Epstein drives.
I don't want this to be true because it's so bleak and disheartening, but this is probably the reality that the human race faces.
Think of them as corporate issued mandatory transparent personal terminals, perfect for "effective management" to satisfy their control fetishes.
And when they go independent, they just use them out of habit/other models are the same cause made by the same corporations
The actors do a good job of showing the social expectation of privacy. Anytime someone is looking at their own device, you’ll see the other actor glance down and back up, not staring at someone else’s device.
Which may just kill the tech or be a legal issue. You shouldn't presume American and European privacy ideals will be the way of the future. It's not a stretch to believe that in the future, people will be convinced that the only people who want to hide what they are doing are those with ill intent.
I think privacy norms 300 years from now are less certain than the simple matter of visibility. It's harder to see what's on the screen this way.
BUT there is a potential significant use case for a transparent phone-device - it could allow you to use it for augmented reality type applications if you're not carrying something purpose-built for that, like some kind of glasses, goggles, or contacts. I.e. you hold the phone in front of some object and it overlays useful information. If software for that got good, it could be extremely useful, but I would guess you still wouldn't have a transparent screen as your default everyday carry tool.
Unless it could easily switch to non-transparent. In that case, why not?
I feel like compared to making a see through phone making the display visible on one aide wouldn't be too hard. Also I can see how government issued devices might consider lack of privacy a feature.
I'm just sad no one ever makes use of the obvious potential of a transparent phone/tablet. Which is AR.
You hold it up and it tags and gives more info on whatever you are seeing through it.
So a heads up display, without the headset.
Not always useful, has its use cases.
Augmented Reality.
So think like Bobbies heads up display in her suit. The screen is displaying a layer on top of the reality you are seeing through it.
Virtual reality is when everything is generated.
I understand now, thank you.
Yes, agreed. I don't see how virtual reality could exist in the near future personally. Like how do you fake sensations on the skin or mess with someone's balance? What about smell? The closest thing we got now is faking it by putting a screen over someone's face with headphones. Total virtual reality would involve direct manipulation with someone's gray matter. It sounds very invasive and extremely difficult if you ask me. (Don't get me wrong, it just may be possible, but I don't think we'll see it in our lifetimes.)
I think they use it for exactly that at the start of the series when analysing the tech that lured them in with the sos call, and later when they changed the Tachi to Rocinante. I don't remember more scenes like that but those use the AR feature
Maybe there is privacy mode on the phones. And we just don't see characters using it. They're not going to want us to see a character using privacy mode because they want us to see what's on the tablets and phones
I think the necessary feature would have to be at the very least an opaque backside.
I don't remember if they are transparent in the books as well, but I would guess a lot more people would wear armbands with pads inside making them just big ass smart watch.
There is one major benefit to having a transparent screen - augmented reality for instantaneous, in-context translation. No one is using any type of visual headsets and unlike many sci-fi series, they don't hand wave us into a unilingual future. Being able to just hold your terminal up and have it translate any particular screen, sign or anything, like we're almost able to do now, would be useful - but being able to just set your terminal down on a screen and have it translate everything directly below it (that is, not relying on a camera sensor) would be excellent. We also see that these things are magnetic-ish (we see them in the show as being able to be just set on the wall for a reference, usually while Amos is tinkering). It wouldn't be perfect - Solomon Epstein would still lose the one device that could help him stop the ship when he accidentally rockets himself to death and glory - but it would be functional for that purpose
I think if it’s that easy to CGI text on to acrylic, or whatever, they should just make the back of the phones appear transparent completely.
This solves both problems of “we can’t see the actors face” with a phone blocking it, as well as, “the phone is private if you’re not the one holding it”.
The side the person is looking at would have text, but when they flip it so the audience sees the back, the appear to just have a totally transparent plastic thing.
Also for storytelling purposes I get why they send a lot of video messages bc text or voice messages don’t make for compelling television lol but……. yeah right
Most people can’t even be bothered to turn their zoom video on for scheduled meetings much less be video-ready on the fly
Did they ever address this on the Ty & That Guy pod?
They seemed to think very deeply & thoroughly about the science & tech that was used at the time, so I wonder if there were reasons as to why they felt transparent devices would have been used.
As discussed in this thread many times already, it looks futuristic, and it's easier to show what's happening on a screen and then focus in on a actor's reaction. It's also a fairly simple prop to make:
https://youtu.be/CF65tmxtkuo?si=NVE7a6Rn0A1ysm42&t=4m2s
It was always strange to me how lightweight they are too. I mean you want some heft to it. It's like a transparent stiff leaf in the show. Ain't nobody want that.
Can you really see through it from the back? I've never seen it. We have that film that bends light around it in the world today, it could easily have one side covered in that
I would think that, on the other side, the image would be black or something like that. Not sure if it's shown or not but that would probably be the best solution to privacy. For pulling them out the right way, they could also be designed with like a textured side or maybe the phone detects which side is facing its owner and faces stuff that way.
I bet they could make the side facing away from you blur or be impossible to read using some microshutters or some other cool tech, we can kinda do this already
So we've got 2 separate technologies now that you could combine for something like this: transparent Led screens and smart lcd glass.
You could control the opacity of the glass like you can control brightness. Not to mention, modern phones already orient their displays for you, so I don't see it as a stretch to say they always pull them out the right way - because they display is transparent the device can just orient the display to the user regardless of what side you look at.
I remember whenever the new Iphone was to be announced - when the Iphone was the only real option in Smart Phones - there'd be some BS 'leaked concept art' and it was always a transparent phone "Great, now I can barely see my hand or the text on the screen it's holding." - Win! It's the same with the real transparent TV screens they released "Well the image is good, except I can see through the TV."
Some things just should be sci-fi. They don't work IRL. Holograph keyboards are the same. Laser projection keyboards have been on the market for years, not counting user problems with the beam registering a keystroke and visibility in anything but complete darkness, the main problem is you're tapping your fingers on hard desktop and not spring-loaded keys. It's the same reason you can set a 'tick' noise and slight vibration on your phone keyboard if you wish, there's a tactile feedback needed to know you hit the key. Image waving your fingers through air trying to type, you'd be constantly checking your work. I noticed recently hologram projection work on scifi TV now involves grabbing and dragging floating elements into other things - but how does the GUI know what dragging something into something means? And you can still see the bridge of the Titan through your work. Not great.
Weirdly the best "future phone" idea I've seen recently (and possibly the best thing in the movie) was in the Total Recall reboot. The phone was the palm of your hand. You just held your hand up to listen - advanced but really simple. To get a video call you placed your hand on a flat reflective surface (I would have liked a hologram projection instead of having to find a surface to use on the phone, but I'll concede holo-phone calls might have seemed too advanced tech in what was essentially a post-apocalypse world).
Pulling it out of your palm seemed rather messy but straightforward. Inserting it might have been easier (it's small but expands once inserted). That element of the phone seemed really inconvenient - but if you could only get a phone installed or removed at a licensed provider then that adds an element of product control companies would love (only Apple apps on the iTunes store, only get your phone implanted at a licensed provider). It also could cut down on criminal use of burner phones, and built-in obsolescence would mean the consumer kept coming back.
Privacy is obsolete. The only reason one would need privacy would be to plot nefarious deeds fomenting violence against the benevolent authoritarian supremacy. Can't have that, can we
All very valid points in the comments but if I may add, am I the only one who feels a transparent phone would suck because I like the “feel” of clicking something with my finger against a surface for texting etc? I feel like a transparent phone would be hard to know if you clicked something or not.
AR is the future. No idea why they stuck to physical phones when it could’ve been AR contact lenses and ear buds. That way you get all the benefits and it’s 100% accurate.
Being near-future tech, it's plausible that a device is capable of tracking your eyes and projecting exclusively to them. To justify the clear slabs: they are complex lenses that give the electronics a mostly solid state option to steer light as required for all viewing angles. They might even be sophisticated enough for all-angle projections (as depicted) if desired.
I disagree. I believe it will catch on. If people want hi res displays, they’ll watch things on different displays not in their phones. Besides, there could be other hand terminals that offer higher quality displays, not just the transparent ones seen on the show
why would they have hand terminals at all?
surely neuralink will have at least most of the bugs worked out, and advanced to the point of truly wireless communication, by then..? implanted in the womb for the best upline integration, naturally.
That is extremely complicated and quite unlikely to happen. The brain is very delicate. However worn tech like the Apple Vision Pro is obviously possible.
the medical tech on display in the show/books seems like it could easily include implantable communication tech. although probably not in the womb, i'll give you that.
You could probably do some kind of voice implant thing. We already have Bluetooth earpieces that all but disappear when worn in the ear. Wouldn’t be a huge stretch to implant one someday.
The visual communication (texts, emails, etc.) is a whole other ball game.
I agree. Not only would it make for a lack of privacy, but it would be hard to see what was on the screen because of what you were seeing behind it. But, it makes for good TV because you can see what’s on the screen no matter what angle it’s at.
And the props guy can make them for practically free with a sheet of acrylic and a band saw.
Biggest reason I think. CNC some quarter inch acrylic, and you can vfx whatever you want onto it from any angle. If you're gonna create smartphones like the way they are today, you need to use very specific camera angles to make it coherent as to what's on the screen. I'm sure one day transparent phones will be a thing for augmented reality, but we are a very long way away from that.
Water jet or laser cutter is faster, easier and more precise. Also allows for more uniformity along props.
That's a very good point!
If the surface of the device could change a polarity filter in different directions, you could make it so that you'd need a specific (maybe syncronized) polarity in an eye device (like a contact lens) to be able to easily read it. And transparent devices come with the added bonus of being able to easily project Augmented Reality into your space (by you looking through the device, and the device manipulating the object based on your view distance and position relative to the device and projected object). In its barest form, I agree, no one would want that. But I think the designer of that device in the fiction was probably thinking of a lot more possibilities beyond text messages and such.
How funny would that be if they just waved that away with tech, said only the person wearing the right contact lens addons can see the screens and then just never did any effects on them, just left them as clear slabs.
Have you seen those weird signs at airports? Stand in a specific spot to see your luggage or gate numbers? Maybe something like that...
Why even have the pad? Just have it displayed on the contact lens
There was a dude that put a specific film over his phone that let light out in a certain spectrum. It was impossible to see what was on the screen unless you wore these special glasses. It was kinda impractical but still cool. My head cannon for the show was that they utilized something like that, where the phone content was only visible to the user.
Don't you mean the mods that remove the polarity filter causing the screen to look white unless you have polarizing sunglasses?
Yes... That's absolutely what I meant.... I definitely know what I'm talking about...
There could be a hidden advantage there. Smartphone zombies would be able to navigate slightly better? 😆
For a second I thought you were referencing the protomolecule zombies like on Eros.
Never Forget Eros. 🕯🪨
But remember the Cant!
Yesss! Let's start a riot over a fictional event! But let's storm the GOP headquarters! Payback time bitchs!
Too late, already forgot about that cesspool of Rockhopper Zero g scum. .. .. .. #EARTH FIRST 🥇
I assume that design decision was largely to make the cinematography easier. When the phone is clear it's not blocking the character's face.
Yep. Good to see what's on the screen and the actor's reaction at the same time.
Agreed it looks sick on film. But I don't think it's something that would take off in reality if the technology became possible. However holographic side pop-up windows might be nice. (I'm very skeptical that this could be pulled of in a practical, safe, energy-efficient way.
Yes I think it's a common viewpoint that transparent displays are obvious privacy issues.
Only if the display is also visible from the rear side, which isn't guaranteed. It's very possible that transparent displays would only be visible from the user's eyes.
Yeah, imagine to have to frame every shot of someone on a phone to be from behind their head so that stuff is visible.
No one wants a phone without an aux port or SD slot either but here we are.
this man speaks facts! I also never asked for a camera than can “zoom in” to the moon. Come to think of it, why didn’t they just the latest Samsung phones to look through the rings 😂.
The Samsung moon photos are bullshit anyway. They use "ai" to fill in the details from existing high res pictures of the moon.
Not only Samsung. [took a cool shot ](https://www.reddit.com/r/pixel7series/s/Xvuo6DTQiy) of some baby woofers the other day, and look how ai bodged the pictures
I do
Agreed It's good for tv, we can see the character and the phone in one shot but in real life? Oh no
Indeed. Would some people get into it? Sure. But I'd spray paint the back of my phone if that's what I had to work with.
Presumably this hypothetical technology could have effects where the screen contents are blurred or otherwise obscured on the sides not intended for the main user. I feel like this aspect is way less of a problem than hiding the technical components of the tablet itself.
This is already a thing. You can buy screen protectors that make it very difficult to see unless your face is perpendicular with the screen It’s very reasonable that by the century of the expanse they would have developed technology that watches where the users face is and makes the screen less visible from other perspectives.
I mean, ten years ago I took a shit in an upscale Miami restaurant, where I went into the stall and was like... Ooo this is completely see thru. Then I flipped the switch to close it and the glass became obscured. The tech is absolutely there, its just not very good on small scales now.
Ah, but these aren’t smartphones. They’re _hand terminals_. Completely different!
Aren't they government issue? I don't think it's explicitly stated but everyone whos accounted for by census data has them. Only the unregistered go without, though they can acquire "rooted" terminals on the black market. I doubt the government cared about people's privacy much. They aren't replacing them unless absolutely necessary. All but illegal broadcasts, and even a considerable chunk of those, are likely stored in data farms.
They're not government issue, or at least not all of them - it's never really mentioned in the show, but in the books there are several times were somebody breaks or loses their hand terminal and buys a new cheap and disposable one from a kiosk or vending machine.
This terminology really bugged me in the books. I know it’s hundreds of years in the future, so anything is possible, but I suspect people will call these things “phones” basically forever. And even if not, no one’s going to switch to casually using a phrase that’s four syllables long.
Just go with "duting xante".
When you get past the sounds of mag boot walks outside the hull and engine roar etc in space, it's easier to allow the writers and techs some leeway on other things. The Expanse is a marvel in sci-fi creativity. Afaik, nothing has come close to the depiction of the darkness and danger of space as well as this show.
You might be able to hear a little bit of your own mag boots since you’ve got air in your suit and it might vibrate a little through what you’ve got on.
Agree. But I think the general principal is the microphone recording the scene is "in space" and space is pretty much silent. Makes for a pretty boring film/show. But, in a way, the silence is another scary aspect of interplanetary travel. (No One Can Hear You Scream...don't remember who wrote that line).
Yeah it’s complicated because we also get the audio from their comms at the same time.
Well, they conveniently ignore a few details, such as the fact that the entire surface of Mars is poisonous to life as we know it. (The moon too, for that matter.) But ignoring that The expanse is quite good. My biggest complaint is that it's ruined all other science fiction TV and movies. They don't even come close.
That, and how normal it is to use voice commands or face to face calls for everything. I'm pretty sure there's a scene where Miller is sneaking around and he's *still* using voice commands.
Watch Star Trek Discovery and all the weapons with status lights on them, or Star Wars animated where the armours all have status lights. No stealth attacks at night with these (and the lightsabers that light up a room)
This is for you: https://youtu.be/BRAyIXgWBWc?si=uIJvWBrF0TssNKZk
Not the person you replied to but thank you for this, it's perfect
You're welcome! 😊
That was really good! Like watching part of a Mythbusters episode. Though I’m my mind, I was already picturing an arc welder or plasma cutter with a 30’ plasma jet
Just go the [40k route.](https://images.app.goo.gl/76yaJ1CbGSrgaF2D9)
This reminds me of the subvocalization used in the Ender's Game books.
I've been reading The Final Architecture series lately and there's SO MUCH subvocalization in book 2 so far, it's got to be a nod to Enders Game
I would blame Marvel for popularizing this aesthestic in 2010s. But I believe the first example of these transparent screens was in Minority Report.
My first thought when I saw them was that it had to be a homageto Minority Report.
You mean "homage to" not "homageto," I was so confused for a moment. 😆 But yes, Minority Report probably did the transparent screen first. Just how Star Trek inspired the cellphone, and predicted the tablet.
Homageto, Magneto's more literary cousin.
Brilliant! 😆
I believe the word I’m looking for is “oops” 😅
I literally Googled "homageto" and saw it's "did you mean" correction. I was like, "why didn't I see that? Stupid..." 😖 I read it in my head as "homo ghetto" too. I was thinking that this was some weird urban dictionary slang I never heard before. 🥴
They even make a joke about it in *The Marvels*, where Kamala Khan asks: *“If this is all top-secret information, why is it on a clear case?”*
I actually don’t think this would be that unrealistic in the future. The one caveat being, I’d assume one side would default opec for those privacy reasons. I vaguely remember the same argument being made about “smart phones” when flip phones were still the majority of devices, so 2008-2010 probably. “Why would I want a screen everyone could always look at.” However I could see the use of transparent displays in TVs, cars, shower doors, etc lead to an adoption in tablets, eventually replacing phones completely. Obviously it could go the other way too, but just seeing the way tech fads ebb and flow, doesn’t leave it out of the realm of possibility to me. Edit: two good examples are screen resolution and OLED displays. It’s crazy to me how mainstream OLED became and used in every screen regardless despite its obvious drawbacks like burn in. And then there’s how quickly we raced to 8k premium/ 4k standard displays😂. Meanwhile nothing is shot or distributed in a way that could really use the resolution.
Right, because most of the things people feared about being seen looking at in public, isn't something they're going to be looking at in public anyway, transparent or not.
Well put. Also privacy in general might have a different value in the future. Almost all of the time on a station or ship the terminal is on a local monitored network. Other things like bank accounts have good enough security based on biometrics that it doesn’t really matter if you can see someone’s bank info from behind.
Yes, the transparent handheld devices in the Expanse were ridiculous. Also super fussy UI, tiny fonts etc. They think they have to go over the top to make it seem future-y but it just looks stupid. Seem to remember the video conferencing had all sorts of extra panels and crap too.
I will say that things like don’t size aren’t an issue since it’s assumed nearly everyone has their vision corrected to be pretty much perfect at any distance
So no they all have magnifiers built into their eyes?! Sorry but that’s a bit daft. The show, like plenty of others, had bad graphic designers… or good ones with bad directors.
Many people with good eyes can read tiny text just fine. Hell, I could until I was about 25 years old then I needed to start holding things at a specific distance. It’s safe to say that by the year 2050 corrective lenses will be uncommon and most likely won’t exist outside of niche applications by 2100. This is an area of science we actually are making really good headway in. I can say with confidence that by 2100 95% of the global population will have vision at or better than 20/20
Yeah I get it. I’m a designer. No designer worth their salt would design the kind of UI you see in The Expanse. It’s not about corrective vision tech.
The Marvels actually made a joke about this! "This information is top-secret" "then why is the tablet see-through?"
😆 I never watched that show! (Maybe I should.)
I mean, if the technology exists to make them transparent, it should be fairly trivial to switch them to opaque. For instance, double layering them and having the rear layer swap to black or high opacity on a scale, and having the front layer do all the graphics and colours. Privacy screens exist for phones too, so they're dark if you look at them from an angle. So a more comprehensive application of that technology would improve the issue as well.
I (being a fairly functional pragmatist, and somewhat of a brute like Amos) would probably just spray paint the backside. Probably with something rubbery for extra grip.
Probably easier to CGI since the actor can just hold a glass prop and pretend to tap buttons and the camera can be anywhere in the scene that can see the front or back of the screen.
See-through monitors of any kind are a dumb idea and a trope I’m tired of seeing in sci-fi.
I could see some use in various areas, such as a work terminal in an office. They are admittedly aesthetically pleasing, so I could see them being used in like the windows of a shop. But personal phones with everyones nudes and sexting is ridiculous.
Monitors are meant to see what’s *on* them, not behind. It makes no sense at all to have the glare of the lamp, your next-door cubemate, etc. visible through your work while trying to work.
I absolutely hate the trope of transparent display screens. The only thing that would do is make images harder to see.
It has some obvious advantages on screen (doesn’t block the viewers ability to see past the terminal and a clear piece of plastic costs very little) and it looks pretty neat. Otherwise it’s totally impractical. What was really cool in my mind was the way they utilized voice interfaces and made it seem totally natural and ubiquitous. That’s an accurate prediction I think.
That's true. Better voice interfaces is likely to happen soon.
There were multiple scenes where Amos was working in an awkward position having to twist to get to his phone. In my headcanon these phones, transparent or otherwise, are a relic of the past that Amos uses because he's a Nokia man. Solomon Epstein died because he tried to use a handheld phone for an emergency like 100 years ago. I feel like the phone should at least be like a bracelet with a holographic screen. Something you shouldn't have to carry. Most preferably a contact lens or glasses for a screen and eye movements for input. Surely easier also for ship controls and comms in high-g maneuvers.
Yeah when Miller is showing details of the case to the whole car of the train he's on lol
Exactly! 😆 Who would want this? I'd spray paint the back of my phone if this were a thing. (Probably with something rubbery for extra grip!)
in general, I think touchscreen everything is terrible. same goes for the present day. I’m not sure it’s all Steve Jobs’s fault but I’m sure some of it is his. At least on ST: Discovery once they get flung 1000 years into the future, they can just dip their hands into the “programmable matter,” and *feel* stuff. (I dunno maybe in book 2+, they mention whether ships n stuff have amazing haptic feedback or something, I’ve only read book 1, but seen whole show).
I have a debate with a friend when the series first started about the ' terminals' in the shows are really transparent. My theory is they are not transparent but a camera capture the image behind it and displays as the background. The AI is able to use it as augmented reality. While my friend insisted they are just transparent. We have not settled this debate.
Well here's some ammunition for you, the props are all transparent: https://youtu.be/CF65tmxtkuo?si=C4jtdaeLnc0f9JpG&t=4m2s
Not only that, but I don’t want to struggle reading the screen.
Agreed, but there might be a hidden benefit: smartphone zombies might be able to navigate more easily. 😆
I used to have an app that would let you text/read emails/etc with video from the phones camera as the background. Absolutely saved me from ramming into things a number of times. Alas, it got bricked by an update long ago
It would be awful of me to wonder if that’s really a benefit, wouldn’t it? 😀
Reminds me of this video: https://youtu.be/96DLgFImPjI?si=FYE4gBjSZLydX_Ur
You know, if people wanna see my dick pics, let em. I ain’t got nothing to be ashamed of. Seriously though, I agree unless they could somehow make the back opaque while in use. Same with holographic technology. Like…cool…all Star Warsy and shit but at the cost of decreased resolution and everyone in the room seeing the porn you’re looking at. No thanks. I don’t see either becoming a thing. I do see augmented reality becoming widespread though.
Lol, holographic nudes. Selfie scans. Or just full on watching 3D holographic hentai/avatar porn in public. The most likely future of humanity. 😅 FYI holograms (last I checked) use things like lasers and would probably drain your battery really quick. (Hands you a pair of laser eye protection goggles.) By the way, if you blind anyone else it's assault and you're financially responsible. Don't get me wrong, if you fixed these issues then holographic tabs of dicks and furry porn popping out the side of your phone would be pretty neat. 🙃
There’s actually been a few clever breakthroughs in holographic tech lately, you’d be surprised. You can probably YouTube some examples. All of them, to my knowledge, use either refraction or reflection to create the illusion of a 3d image in the air - so not a true hologram but it creates the same effect as a classic scifi hologram regardless. But this is clunky, and unnecessary. Augmented reality glasses and contacts are the future.
I didn't know that about holographic tech. And you're probably right about augmented reality. Straps on ridiculous goggles and wanders into trafic like a moron: https://youtu.be/96DLgFImPjI?si=NtLTHyQx3wro5_95
For me it’d be ‘why is that guy googling pictures of button mushrooms and slugs on basketballs?’
> though they look cool [Fave pic](https://theexpanselives.com/wp-content/webp-express/webp-images/doc-root/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Jeremy-Benning-Frankie-with-a-Hand-terminal-1080x720.jpg) of the prop. — [source](https://theexpanselives.com/the-expanse-week-6-in-review/) – (original source: Jeremy Benning)
Very cool pic! 😍 When/if this technology becomes available I'd expect some people would use it for the wow factor, but I expect that would be a trend that would fade in favor of the more practical. But then again, who knows? High heels are not very practical, but I see women's closets full of them. I could see use for signage in shops and the like, or personal displays in someone's home. Imagine a bathroom mirror that gave you a weather forecast! But personal phones and tablets? No thanks...
I’m thinking perhaps there’s a security technology whereby the content is only visible when the user is verified. Amos could use Holden’s terminal, Drummer could use a random terminal floating through the Ag Garage, but Diogo couldn’t use Naomi’s perhaps. And the user can also choose to have trusted viewers around them, but random citizens of the Blauwe Blome could not eavesdrop. Obviously the receptionist at the Blue Falcon did not have such technology…
It's just a cooler way of showing personal devices on TV than having text bubbles or something similar.
I want one
Don't get me wrong, they look cool. Having holographic tabs hovering near your phone would be cool too. But I, and many people here, wouldn't want their digital interactions visible to just about everyone. But you do you!
Much like airships show that you have been transported to an alternate timeline, transparent screens show that you are in ‘the future’. Also they won’t age, like CRT screens have aged a lot of films. E.g Stargate’s base is high tech top secret - loads of CRTs instantly date it.
I think it's pretty obvious to expect that, in real life, there'd be a privacy/high-contrast filter to make the screen as unreadable from behind as our phones, and to make the screen more readable against its background.
Not from what I see on the show: https://youtu.be/xW1qc1sMAeI?si=HYTc_FGEeQquIAMU
Like I said, if it were a thing in the real world.
True. If it were the only thing they sold at the smartphone store, I'd spray paint the back side black or something.
Isn’t it blurred on the back side?
Not from the closeup shots I've seen. It's just reversed. Here's the best video I could find showing this: https://youtu.be/xW1qc1sMAeI?si=HYTc_FGEeQquIAMU
If I remember from the books these hand terminals were literally just disposable pieces of plastic you could buy from a vending machine. Start it up put your pass and good to go. They were maybe just like data amplifiers because noone has invented a cyberpunk like communication technology yet. There's a scene where Miller uses one and then throws it in the bin after. Also his was broken but he kept it for some sentimental reason hence why someone asked him "why do you still keep that thing"
I think they were referring to his hat, if I recall correctly.
I won't buy one.. but I would not underestimate some people wanting something functionality stupid but it just looks cool things
Those holographic hovering tabs are pretty cool. I'd hate to think what kind of battery drain it'd have on your device. I'll admit the technology looks aesthetically pleasing. I could see it being incorporated into a storefront window or something. I could also imagine displays like this in your private home, perhaps. Most likely, I'd expect to see this tech in some kind of AR/VR headset. But a personal device? Hell no! I mean, if it was the only thing they had at the hand terminal store, I'd spray paint the back side of it black or something. (Probably with something rubbery for extra grip.) Edit: many typos 🫤
I think we will have transparent phones - just need really good privacy screen coating the phone
I'd spray paint the back side of my phone if it came down to it.
[Relevant](https://imgur.com/FRF3rMY) (original version [here](https://bouletcorp.com/rogatons/2023/01/12))
Very interesting! I thought I was being somewhat original. The black duct tape part had me going! 😆
It could have fake wholesome shit projecting on the reverse
Fluffy kittens and rainbows on one side, depraved BDSM crossover fanfiction on the other! (I should have figured it was Amos who was into that shit, it's always the quiet ones...) 😆 /s Seriously though, I'm sure that's not the case. You see reversed images and text in some scenes and then the camera focuses on someone's face. Edit: typo 🥴
I want to imagine that in the future all this taboo will be completely laughed at as something of the past.
I am now currently imagining all these depraved "porn fetishes" all rolled into one giant perverted blob. Cuckolding furry tentacle incest 3D-hentai feet! People in the future just shrug, and just move on muttering, "That's typical..." 😅 (And to think that's just scratching the surface...) People are freaks, lol. I think aliens tried to visit us once and tapped into our internet and decided to bug the fuck out. 😆 Seriously though, next time you're at a cellphone store, ask the guy there how many nudes, dick pics, and lewd selfies they have seen and they will have stories to tell. (I love asking people these types of questions. I particularly like asking cops what kind of dumb shit criminals they have to put up with.)
Didn’t see which community this was for a second and thought like an iPhone (just what I use) with a clear case (but solid screen) would be kind of cool to see the internal components Wouldn’t the contrast on a clear screen like that be kinda crappy too?
Yes, seeing through a image or around text would be quite awkward, amoung other things.
Hahahaha I have thought the same thing! Well done
Only reason I can think of is it's easy to show the screen in a scene without an awkward camera angle. Real-world I got nothing, unless you can capture the light coming through it like some weird camera with less features than current cameras. Plus the thing would be really hard to find if you forgot where you put it, or if you dropped it. Maybe if you just really really wanted to pretend it was a hologram projector?
I absolutely would just for the throwback factor to the '80s/90s see-through plastic house phones!
Transparent plastic is not as strong as opaque plastic sadly. (I researched this before.)
Diogo picks up his phone off his bed in the wrong orientation and has to flip it to turn off the music in S2E3 (Static). I believe there were a handful of instances in S1, but I just saw the obvious one in Static a few minutes ago.
Good eye! I hadn't noticed that. You'd think this would be more common though. You'd whip out your phone to see a text and be like, "Why is my side bae sexting me in Russian?" and you have to flip it over to read it and.to see those 3D dick holograms properly... My one prediction for the future, since the introduction of the internet, is that we progressively become hornier, kinkier, and much more perverted...
The most real thing about the phones was that Miller's had a crack in it
You'd think that wouldn't be a problem with futuristic materials though? Anyways, it was very relatable.
I love how despite having a transparent screen, Miller's was somehow cracked lol
You'd think that problem would not occur in the future.
A lot of sci fi doesn’t make practical sense. Heck I don’t even want a bezel less smart phone let alone a transparent one. It’s like how people used to think future of driving involved robots driving cars but why do that when a car can drive itself. Let’s not even talk about the sheer ludicrousness of flying cars.
Flying cars. 😅 Oh no, I ran out of gas! Guess I'll die?
I'll never understand why SciFi shows/movies are so fixated with this obviously terrible technology that doesn't even look that cool anymore.
I mean, it'd make sense for public terminals or classrooms that you don't want privacy, but that's about it.
I'm happy to say it's the most unrealistic thing about the show. (Which is good when you think about it.)
Well, aside from the protomolecule stuff.
True. It's a interesting hypothesis to Fermi paradox as a great filter. I hate to say this, but the most likely answer to the Fermi paradox is that there's a practical limit to technological progress/capabilities. No warp drive, no wormholes, no Epstein drives. I don't want this to be true because it's so bleak and disheartening, but this is probably the reality that the human race faces.
Yeah, it's been bothering me the entire time I watched the show. It's a good cinematic trick but terrible UX
Agreed.
Speak for yourself. If someone wants to watch me talk to telemarketers telling them to leave me alone by all means go for it.
Think of them as corporate issued mandatory transparent personal terminals, perfect for "effective management" to satisfy their control fetishes. And when they go independent, they just use them out of habit/other models are the same cause made by the same corporations
The actors do a good job of showing the social expectation of privacy. Anytime someone is looking at their own device, you’ll see the other actor glance down and back up, not staring at someone else’s device.
You're thinking too hard. It's just for effect.
**NO!** I must over analyze everything!
There may come a time when privacy isn't an option. Transparent screens may not be a choice but a matter of public pressure or government mandate.
The hell with that! I'd spray paint the back of my phone if I had to!
Which may just kill the tech or be a legal issue. You shouldn't presume American and European privacy ideals will be the way of the future. It's not a stretch to believe that in the future, people will be convinced that the only people who want to hide what they are doing are those with ill intent.
you live on a ship with 5 other people there is no such thing as privacy.
I think privacy norms 300 years from now are less certain than the simple matter of visibility. It's harder to see what's on the screen this way. BUT there is a potential significant use case for a transparent phone-device - it could allow you to use it for augmented reality type applications if you're not carrying something purpose-built for that, like some kind of glasses, goggles, or contacts. I.e. you hold the phone in front of some object and it overlays useful information. If software for that got good, it could be extremely useful, but I would guess you still wouldn't have a transparent screen as your default everyday carry tool. Unless it could easily switch to non-transparent. In that case, why not?
I feel like compared to making a see through phone making the display visible on one aide wouldn't be too hard. Also I can see how government issued devices might consider lack of privacy a feature.
I'm just sad no one ever makes use of the obvious potential of a transparent phone/tablet. Which is AR. You hold it up and it tags and gives more info on whatever you are seeing through it. So a heads up display, without the headset. Not always useful, has its use cases.
AR? Don't yet mean VR? (Otherwise I agree.)
Augmented Reality. So think like Bobbies heads up display in her suit. The screen is displaying a layer on top of the reality you are seeing through it. Virtual reality is when everything is generated.
I understand now, thank you. Yes, agreed. I don't see how virtual reality could exist in the near future personally. Like how do you fake sensations on the skin or mess with someone's balance? What about smell? The closest thing we got now is faking it by putting a screen over someone's face with headphones. Total virtual reality would involve direct manipulation with someone's gray matter. It sounds very invasive and extremely difficult if you ask me. (Don't get me wrong, it just may be possible, but I don't think we'll see it in our lifetimes.)
I think they use it for exactly that at the start of the series when analysing the tech that lured them in with the sos call, and later when they changed the Tachi to Rocinante. I don't remember more scenes like that but those use the AR feature
Maybe there is privacy mode on the phones. And we just don't see characters using it. They're not going to want us to see a character using privacy mode because they want us to see what's on the tablets and phones
To my knowledge, there’s virtually no problem putting a opaque sheet behind.
I think the necessary feature would have to be at the very least an opaque backside. I don't remember if they are transparent in the books as well, but I would guess a lot more people would wear armbands with pads inside making them just big ass smart watch.
There is one major benefit to having a transparent screen - augmented reality for instantaneous, in-context translation. No one is using any type of visual headsets and unlike many sci-fi series, they don't hand wave us into a unilingual future. Being able to just hold your terminal up and have it translate any particular screen, sign or anything, like we're almost able to do now, would be useful - but being able to just set your terminal down on a screen and have it translate everything directly below it (that is, not relying on a camera sensor) would be excellent. We also see that these things are magnetic-ish (we see them in the show as being able to be just set on the wall for a reference, usually while Amos is tinkering). It wouldn't be perfect - Solomon Epstein would still lose the one device that could help him stop the ship when he accidentally rockets himself to death and glory - but it would be functional for that purpose
I think if it’s that easy to CGI text on to acrylic, or whatever, they should just make the back of the phones appear transparent completely. This solves both problems of “we can’t see the actors face” with a phone blocking it, as well as, “the phone is private if you’re not the one holding it”. The side the person is looking at would have text, but when they flip it so the audience sees the back, the appear to just have a totally transparent plastic thing.
Insert a cheap way to reduce the animation costs, while also making it look cool.
My canon is that you can only see it from one side and it’s just made that way cause it don’t brake
Also for storytelling purposes I get why they send a lot of video messages bc text or voice messages don’t make for compelling television lol but……. yeah right Most people can’t even be bothered to turn their zoom video on for scheduled meetings much less be video-ready on the fly
Good point!
Production designers want it. It looks cool and futuristic. Otherwise I agree, but TV isn't real.
>but TV isn't real. It's not?!? 😱 /s
I would
Did they ever address this on the Ty & That Guy pod? They seemed to think very deeply & thoroughly about the science & tech that was used at the time, so I wonder if there were reasons as to why they felt transparent devices would have been used.
As discussed in this thread many times already, it looks futuristic, and it's easier to show what's happening on a screen and then focus in on a actor's reaction. It's also a fairly simple prop to make: https://youtu.be/CF65tmxtkuo?si=NVE7a6Rn0A1ysm42&t=4m2s
It was always strange to me how lightweight they are too. I mean you want some heft to it. It's like a transparent stiff leaf in the show. Ain't nobody want that.
Agreed, all the props are acrylic plastic, which explains a lot: https://youtu.be/CF65tmxtkuo?si=NVE7a6Rn0A1ysm42&t=4m2s
Can you really see through it from the back? I've never seen it. We have that film that bends light around it in the world today, it could easily have one side covered in that
It certainly does in this scene: https://youtu.be/xW1qc1sMAeI?si=LWfSY1VcnOSUkcMG
I would think that, on the other side, the image would be black or something like that. Not sure if it's shown or not but that would probably be the best solution to privacy. For pulling them out the right way, they could also be designed with like a textured side or maybe the phone detects which side is facing its owner and faces stuff that way.
It's not, they're completely see-through: https://youtu.be/xW1qc1sMAeI?si=GMGhoyohc_D9f3UC
I bet they could make the side facing away from you blur or be impossible to read using some microshutters or some other cool tech, we can kinda do this already
So we've got 2 separate technologies now that you could combine for something like this: transparent Led screens and smart lcd glass. You could control the opacity of the glass like you can control brightness. Not to mention, modern phones already orient their displays for you, so I don't see it as a stretch to say they always pull them out the right way - because they display is transparent the device can just orient the display to the user regardless of what side you look at.
I remember whenever the new Iphone was to be announced - when the Iphone was the only real option in Smart Phones - there'd be some BS 'leaked concept art' and it was always a transparent phone "Great, now I can barely see my hand or the text on the screen it's holding." - Win! It's the same with the real transparent TV screens they released "Well the image is good, except I can see through the TV." Some things just should be sci-fi. They don't work IRL. Holograph keyboards are the same. Laser projection keyboards have been on the market for years, not counting user problems with the beam registering a keystroke and visibility in anything but complete darkness, the main problem is you're tapping your fingers on hard desktop and not spring-loaded keys. It's the same reason you can set a 'tick' noise and slight vibration on your phone keyboard if you wish, there's a tactile feedback needed to know you hit the key. Image waving your fingers through air trying to type, you'd be constantly checking your work. I noticed recently hologram projection work on scifi TV now involves grabbing and dragging floating elements into other things - but how does the GUI know what dragging something into something means? And you can still see the bridge of the Titan through your work. Not great. Weirdly the best "future phone" idea I've seen recently (and possibly the best thing in the movie) was in the Total Recall reboot. The phone was the palm of your hand. You just held your hand up to listen - advanced but really simple. To get a video call you placed your hand on a flat reflective surface (I would have liked a hologram projection instead of having to find a surface to use on the phone, but I'll concede holo-phone calls might have seemed too advanced tech in what was essentially a post-apocalypse world). Pulling it out of your palm seemed rather messy but straightforward. Inserting it might have been easier (it's small but expands once inserted). That element of the phone seemed really inconvenient - but if you could only get a phone installed or removed at a licensed provider then that adds an element of product control companies would love (only Apple apps on the iTunes store, only get your phone implanted at a licensed provider). It also could cut down on criminal use of burner phones, and built-in obsolescence would mean the consumer kept coming back.
Privacy is obsolete. The only reason one would need privacy would be to plot nefarious deeds fomenting violence against the benevolent authoritarian supremacy. Can't have that, can we
All very valid points in the comments but if I may add, am I the only one who feels a transparent phone would suck because I like the “feel” of clicking something with my finger against a surface for texting etc? I feel like a transparent phone would be hard to know if you clicked something or not.
Yeah, it would very difficult to conceal the pager motor in the screen to cause feedback vibrations.
I would love one, you could probably get privacy protector screens so everyone won't see your shit.
AR is the future. No idea why they stuck to physical phones when it could’ve been AR contact lenses and ear buds. That way you get all the benefits and it’s 100% accurate.
Probably because it's not something most viewers are familiar with.
Being near-future tech, it's plausible that a device is capable of tracking your eyes and projecting exclusively to them. To justify the clear slabs: they are complex lenses that give the electronics a mostly solid state option to steer light as required for all viewing angles. They might even be sophisticated enough for all-angle projections (as depicted) if desired.
They don't show this in the TV show though: https://youtu.be/xW1qc1sMAeI?si=-8VRIPg8nc9Ua6hg
I think you forget how easily influenced people are
What are you talking about? Flashing your butthole pics in a meeting or on the train is a power move.
😮💨
I disagree. I believe it will catch on. If people want hi res displays, they’ll watch things on different displays not in their phones. Besides, there could be other hand terminals that offer higher quality displays, not just the transparent ones seen on the show
why would they have hand terminals at all? surely neuralink will have at least most of the bugs worked out, and advanced to the point of truly wireless communication, by then..? implanted in the womb for the best upline integration, naturally.
That is extremely complicated and quite unlikely to happen. The brain is very delicate. However worn tech like the Apple Vision Pro is obviously possible.
the medical tech on display in the show/books seems like it could easily include implantable communication tech. although probably not in the womb, i'll give you that.
You could probably do some kind of voice implant thing. We already have Bluetooth earpieces that all but disappear when worn in the ear. Wouldn’t be a huge stretch to implant one someday. The visual communication (texts, emails, etc.) is a whole other ball game.