One of the first pitch movies in interaction design was the future scenario called Knowledge Navigator, produced by Apple in 1987.

It presents a vision of innovative computer support for knowledge work. The main character is a university professor, preparing for a talk and dealing with daily chores.

The professor uses seemingly unrestricted speech to interact with the desktop agent of his computer appliance: the Knowledge Navigator.

The desktop agent, Phil, handles incoming calls, manages the appointment book, accepts information retrieval queries in natural language, and more.

The Knowledge Navigator supports video phone calls and collaborative manipulation, as shown here.

Following Knowledge Navigator, most significant IT companies presented their own future visions in a similar manner. The films were all rather expensively produced, with professional actors and high-quality camera work, special effects and post-processing.

It is fairly clear that we are now outside the realm of sketching. Pitch movies are not sketches. They certainly communicate design ideas, but they do not appear as the tangible part of an ongoing thought process. Moreover, they tend not to invite dialogue and constructive criticism.

On to ANIMATED USE SKETCHES.