World control panel

March 24, 2011 5:41 PM

World control panel Continuing a trend of modern parents that put the boring, lifeless drones that raised you and ruined your life to shame, is Steve Lodefink, a UI designer for the Walt Disney Internet Group in Seattle. His latest project, The World Control Panel, was designed at the request of his son, Harlan. Harlan wanted a light panel to use for secret missions when he and his friend play "agents." The resulting UI design, which took three weeks to build, displays a variety of light combinations and includes a voice recorder and the Larson Scanner (used in Knightrider and Battlestar Galactica).
posted by hincandenza (33 comments total)

Cool stuff!

Also, our parents are not your parents. Please don't editorialize my childhood into your FPP.
posted by pedmands at 5:43 PM on March 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Uh, that was a joke...
posted by hincandenza at 5:48 PM on March 24, 2011 [6 favorites]

Psh. My dad made me a full, extremely detailed Darth Vader costume for Halloween when I was in Kindergarten, which he based on promo pictures that he collected, since the movie had not yet been released in theaters. The helmet was made from an actual motorcycle helmet. It was amazing and super geeky.

And I was jealous of my friend, who had a stoplight costume, because I didn't know who Darth Vader even was.
posted by The World Famous at 6:00 PM on March 24, 2011 [7 favorites]

I would have loved to have had that panel when I was a child!

And I'm sure Harlan will remember that toy that his dad built for him for the the rest of his life.
posted by Nyrath at 6:00 PM on March 24, 2011

I need, uh, I mean my child definitely needs this for his world domination games.
posted by BlueJae at 6:01 PM on March 24, 2011

Uh, that was a joke...

NO HUMOR ON THE FRONT PAGE, CITIZEN!
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 6:03 PM on March 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

Uh, that was a joke...

Me too, but I am not as good at funny-making as you, I guess.

My childhood? Talk about a joke!

:-D
posted by pedmands at 6:04 PM on March 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seriously though, how does one become a UI designer? I just can't think of any majors that would seem relevant.

Also I'm slightly jealous.
posted by kurosawa's pal at 6:08 PM on March 24, 2011

how does one become a UI designer

Practice at making UI user-friendly. Also, a shit-ton of practice at crafting bullshit resumes.

At least, that works for me.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 6:17 PM on March 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

*eyes soldering iron and a dozen half-finished projects*

*weeps*
posted by lekvar at 6:19 PM on March 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cardboard box. Crayons. Voila: Control panel. Knock yourself out, kid. No, you may NOT take the knobs off the stove, I don't care if they "make it look realer."
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:25 PM on March 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

Seriously though, how does one become a UI designer? I just can't think of any majors that would seem relevant.

There are specific degrees just for UI design.
posted by octothorpe at 6:29 PM on March 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Now that I've RTFA, this seems like a pretty weak post. Sorry, mefi isn't boingboing.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 6:30 PM on March 24, 2011

Well my parent used to chase me around the farm buildings with a hammer, and once pushed me out a window when I was three, so I don't think he was a lifeless and boring drone.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 6:47 PM on March 24, 2011

This is classic MeFi material. If this Epic Toy isn't a Best of the Web, nothing is.

Harlan & his friends are clearly a bit fanatical about their spy games. This Bondian device is fucking awesome and is going to amp up their excitement and imaginations.

Major win, a Best of the Web, and completely fine FPP.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:48 PM on March 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Well, if I were to go to Disney World, which I won't, I can't see myself standing in line for this.

True confessions, I might have been interested if the UI featured British actors in period costume.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 6:53 PM on March 24, 2011

I love the tour.

"This is anything you want. This is also anything you want"
posted by mrzarquon at 7:37 PM on March 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

When I was a kid, my mom sewed me a utility belt with tons of pockets, made me a cape out of old drapes, and made me a "Bat Computer" that would spit out nonsensical riddles just like the one in the '60s Batman TV show (which I watched in syndication in the '80s without a clue that it was supposed to be silly or campy or ironic).
posted by straight at 8:17 PM on March 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Sorry, mefi isn't boingboing.

Thank god.
posted by Ratio at 8:31 PM on March 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I just can't think of any majors that would seem relevant.

In a just world, there would be such a thing as training on the job, and what subject you studied in school would be recognized as, in most cases, largely irrelevant to your employability in most fields. In this world, it would not be the role of colleges and universities to provided specific job skills.
posted by kenko at 8:36 PM on March 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love how retro and cool this is.
posted by bayani at 8:48 PM on March 24, 2011

Wow are you serious?
posted by lambertrina at 8:50 PM on March 24, 2011

What is the fabric-type material that is shown underneath? Does it just diffuse light? I thought at first there would be an LED under every hole, but it seems that there are just a few in there.

Really nice project!
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 9:24 PM on March 24, 2011

Cool stuff! I'm now a part of the Walt Disney Internet Group in Seattle. Guess I need figure out who this fellow is.
posted by Kwine at 9:38 PM on March 24, 2011

My dad did a lot of stuff like this for me.
posted by jeblis at 11:51 PM on March 24, 2011

M Y P A R E N T S W E R E B O R I N G L I F E L E S S D R O N E S
posted by the noob at 4:35 AM on March 25, 2011

I don't know... My plain cardboard box did way more stuff than that panel. My imagination was always so much more exciting than anything that really existed.
posted by TooFewShoes at 4:54 AM on March 25, 2011

All your prayers have been answered!

It's finally here!

The Malibu Barbie® Larry King Live Playset!

Some assembly required. Batteries not included.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:31 AM on March 25, 2011

I still remember this LED binary counter my dad made when I was a kid and how cool I thought it was at the time. Easily amused? Perhaps. But years later when the power supply in the Atari 2600 went out and my dad used the power supply from the binary counter to fix it, I always got a small amount of joy explaining to my friends that came over just what the hell that extra box hooked up to the Atari did. My dad didn't take electronics back to the store when they broke. He fixed them, sometimes using Frankenstein methods like that, and it was awesome.
posted by mysterpigg at 7:51 AM on March 25, 2011

OOF. I'm sorry, this is a fine post. I was acting like an ass last night because I had a bit too much to drink.

I need to stop metafiltering with beer.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:21 AM on March 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Better yet, more beer and less keyboard. Win-win!
posted by five fresh fish at 8:31 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

eyes soldering iron

AAAAAAAH! KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR EYES!
posted by arcticwoman at 11:59 AM on March 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Continuing a trend of modern parents that put the boring, lifeless drones that raised you and ruined your life to shame

My dad with a mechanical pencil, a piece of legal paper and a cardboard strip bent into a triangle created an X-Wing Control panel with tons of realistic controls and cool lettering. It put this light box of a world map to shame.

He also built us a huge tugboat with wheelhouse, wheel and smokestack out of appliance boxes. It was amazing.

Thanks Dad!
posted by Ironmouth at 9:52 AM on March 26, 2011