Inspiration from elsewhere - 24, CSI

Some good visuals could be perhaps borrowed from the shows like CSI or 24. CSI is infamous by weird lighting and camera angles, 24 proved the concept of showing several movies at one screen when simultaneous events are happening. Not sure how it could be applied to this case.

In case the communication is realtime, both endpoints can be shown in the 24 way.

Another option, when the text is important, may be overlaying the text over the image.

Or the camera can pan across the place, or make details, while the sound of typing serves to keep the continuity of the scene.

Somebody earlier here mentioned the possibility of a character narrating the scene as a voice overlay, describing what's happening instead of letting the audience read the screens. That could actually work pretty well; for multiple-language versions voices are easier to subtitle than screens, and people also vastly differ in their speed of reading text. Would also allow the tricks with camera angles without losing important information.

About the realistic view

The realistic view of an ordinary keyboard and screen could also work, if made properly. One could film the people using computers or the screens from different angles. And the people wouldn't have to stare at their screens looking bored. They could be doing little things to keep it interesting, like taking a sip of a drink. The background and the room the person sits in could also be staged to personal.

I thought of this after seeing this sketch in Youtube. It has an IM conversation in the beginning and it was made in an interesting way.

Augmented Reality and Augmented ID

I think we could use something like this as well:

Works today and also opens up nice product placement opportunities with device makers and operators.

And the Layar stuff would enable us to have a special Project WORM layer for fans, again mixing fiction with reality. Could be very cool.

And here's one with augmented ID:

Again, lots of interesting opportunities and similar idea of the UI.

Googlee Gunk, Guk, Gook, Et Al.

I think the Mike Hedge Comment is very dynamic and may serve has a lead hook to deconstruct whatever 'secret language' our set of coded hackers may be using to commune and collaborate.

(I found the Mission Impossible I film touch typing scene quite compelling but I love Finnegan's Wake and I cannot spell -)

CU2

What about eye lenses to see the world and the vorld (virtual world ;-) )

future

is this supposed to be 2010 or way in the future?

for 2010 I would say something like the touch coffe table thing... but with smarts like the google wave thing.... basically predictive text...

instead of typing letters we are typing words.... (like chinese use a charter for a word...) these words would cluster based on language..
like http://www.musicmesh.net/

I would imagine info would be presented like this: http://spezify.com/#/mikehedge

Mike

Audio & Face Recognition & Other Biometrics

Controlling Computers using voice is not a miracle but not too common either... "Computer, File, Open", "Computer, shutdown!", etc
Dont forget to use face recognition or retina scan or at least fingerprint to login...

Designer’s imagination 2

Not table device for a lap-top.
http://www.nottable.com.br/

The Nintendo Wii (no, seriously!)

I got myself a Nintendo Wii console recently and the latest version of the interface is really nicely designed for surfing information. It's very graphical and would look good on camera, but it would also be realistic because it's a real interface which does actually work.

I was especially impressed by the news and weather channels' globe option, it's very intuitive to zoom around the planet with news story photos displayed at their geographical location. The globe interface is also very cinematic.

The Wii's main interface is also very nice, and its web browser works pretty well.

(The Wii has been severely underestimated as a general computing device IMHO, it's good for people who want simple internet access on a large screen.)

A coffee-table shaped computer

It's quite old, from 2007 year.