Many Sci-Fi movies and video games have this circular interface used on touch-screens and interfaces (the Iron Man movies or the class select screens from Mass Effect are two examples).
What is this structure's name? Who first designed it/where did it come from? Is there a math or computer science concept behind it that influences its structure, or is it just to "look cool"?
The pictures below are from doing a google image search for "Sci-Fi Circular Interface"
I consider this more of a "history and background of a sci-fi trope" sort-of question, more than a design and illustration question.