I think some of the entries could serve as inspiration. Think about the effect Minority Report's UX has had. It was an idea that wasn't new, but seeing it (I think well done) in a movie gives it a more concrete goal for a lot of people (tech) and a reference point for other people (non-tech).
Just as an FYI, the designer of the Minority Report UI/UX created a company (http://www.oblong.com) and actually built the system. Boeing (my former company) actually has a patent using the system to control a swarm of UAVs.
That itself ain't bad. Star Trek: The Next Generation pretty much introduced the world to the concept of touchscreens, back in the time when they pretty much didn't exist.
Also, somehow the "internally incoherent" movie UIs still feel order of magnitude better than what we use in the real world, especially on mobile, which is mostly a mess of crappy and incoherent design.
Actually the TNG interfaces were very coherent and based on technology that could be replicated at that time. The designer of LCARS, Michael Okuda, needed to make a set of interfaces that could display readable information, be used for over a decade worth of shows, and be believably interacted with in a variety of modalities. He likely can be credited with making the most inspirationally accurate SciFi UI ever.
Star Trek interfaces set the gold standard for realistic UI, while Minority Report was not a UI anyone would ever want nor even should aspire to create.
Footnote: Oddly enough the consultant on the interface for Minority report was Jaron Lanier, who I respect immensely for his technology theory -- just not his designs.
As far as I know, we didn't have many touchscreens at the time TNG was shot; while the interface was indeed believable, it was also inspiring. I'm very happy to see touchscreens on the newest Dragon, and I would really love it if they were running LCARS :).
I wholeheartedly agree with your evaluation of LCARS. That's why I still keep sketching out LCARS-equivalents of UIs for existing devices (it's actually quite hard to do right; you can't go there half-way - LCARS mixed with non-LCARS elements looks like crap) and want all my home automation to be run by one :).
Another thing Okuda was a master at was logos and insignia. They set a quality standard that is very rarely met in the real world.
Was any technical minded person really influenced by that, other than cringing in front of the TV?
Anyone who has ever worked with any kind of media editor knows that "waving your arms in the air" is about the least desirable imaginable interface for such.
Minority Report is exactly what I think of when I'm trying to guess what bizarre combinations of gestures and swipes and pinches and shakes I need to perform to get this bit of smartphone software to do whatever trivial thing it's supposed to.
The only difference is that John Anderton seems to be able to get his software to do the stuff he wants it to do.
I think some of the entries could serve as inspiration. Think about the effect Minority Report's UX has had. It was an idea that wasn't new, but seeing it (I think well done) in a movie gives it a more concrete goal for a lot of people (tech) and a reference point for other people (non-tech).