Helm Controls

Good point, I always thought he's telling someone to go to the next slide like people did before powerpoint became a thing XD

 

Spock changing slides on the bridge always struck me as an "electric eye" situation. He's waving his hand through an infrared beam. That still seemed like high-tech in 1964. It shows up again in "For the World is Hollow" and "The Paradise Syndrome."

 

I have not noticed it in those episodes before, could you post or link to screenshots?

 

I misremembered what happened in "The Paradise Syndrome." Kirk didn't trip an electric eye, he hit some buttons out of sequence, and that's what triggered the memory beam.

But it's unmistakable when Natira opens the altar room:
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x08hd/fortheworldishollowandihavetouchedtheskyhd0328.jpg

And I should have mentioned the electric eye in "Spock's Brain"
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x01hd/spocksbrainhd0513.jpg

 

In "The Cage" Spock is gesturing to the woman seated at the console. They just didn't use the angle that featured her when he makes that gesture. @alchemist posted the following photo once:

 

Great! I actually witnessed people doing the same still in 2010-11 XD

 

What an interesting pic! It's great that you can share these.

But that begs one of those "canon" questions..uh-oh...
If we can't tell he is standing by her onscreen, does that make the him directly controlling the computer canon, or does it make him motioning to her canon?

 

I see what you are referencing. I was thinking only about the times that gestures were used to control the operations onboard the ship.