What movies and other media show words or numbers as quasi-physical things?

Panic Room's opening credits were giant letters over Manhattan that were reflected in windows, cast shadows, etc. but went unnoticed by the background players.

I'm pretty sure 'Fringe' uses these to establish locations.

On of the first places I noticed this was in the opening credits for "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqIclb4qsJI."

There was also some of this in Steven Moffat's recent Sherlock Holmes miniseries, where little visual clues like text messages would float up into the scene. Fincher's use of the technique in Panic Room was definitely what sparked the trend in the last decade. It was much-commented-upon when the movie came out. Here's http://www.dvdtalk.com/cinemagotham/archives/000536.html:When the theater went dark at the start of Panic Room, however, an audible gasp could be heard throughout the crowd. Fincher's credit sequences are always unique and worth noting and Panic Room's turned out to be a perfect little short film about the way New York looks. Each credit appears as a set of austere stone letters floating above a New York street. Sometimes the camera swivels, sometimes it tracks side-to-side, sometimes it sits still. The sequence begins at the lower tip of Manhattan and slowly works its way, shot-by-shot, up to the film's Upper West Side location. The buildings reflect the history of New York architecture: turn-of-the-Century stone factory structures, modern glass-and-steel towers, cathedrals, water towers. Houston Street, Times Square, the Chrysler Building, Central Park. There is an awesome sense of scale and drama. The addition of the letters, stone-carved giants, heightens the sense of foreboding. "Something's coming," it seems to say. "And it ain't gonna be fun."You might find some more interesting stuff in the article, as it covers some of the CG tech used while also touching on the historical precedents in films like North by Northwest.

Panic Room opening credits for me as well. Now every time I see them I think of Panic Room.

This kind-of thing always reminds me of http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/9/5/9549_400x600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dccomics.com/dccomics/graphic_novels/%3Fgn%3D9549&usg=__5AAOcadSgdQrTHPKL0Xt8flygJU=&h=600&w=400&sz=125&hl=en&start=0&sig2=Jb4Bs7t3YgmP71zpflnPSQ&zoom=1&tbnid=hMylDsUS8iMX8M:&tbnh=178&tbnw=119&ei=TCMITcmDHZaQ4gacutzQAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwill%2Beisner%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D673%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=543&vpy=95&dur=2106&hovh=275&hovw=183&tx=95&ty=125&oei=MSIITb3bGMa2hAf3ldiTDw&esq=9&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0.

In Wayne's World (IIRC) during the Cantonese scene, Wayne says something in Cantonese, and then both he an Cassandra pause while they wait for the subtitles to translate it... does this count? It's character awareness of the subtitles...

I think the term I've been looking for is 'augmented reality', but I've only noticed this being talked about in the last few years.

I don't know if this counts, but in Sergio Leoni's "Duck You Sucker" (1971) huge words appear over James Coburn's head. If I remember correctly, the say "Banco de Mesa Verde." In the movie, Rod Steiger plays an Mexican bandit who is obsessed with robbing the Mesa Verde bank. Coburn is a dynamite expert. And it's when Steiger first sees Coburn that the titles appear. The shot is from Steiger's p.o.v., and so it seems as if he can see the titles -- that they are in his head, labeling Coburn as someone who can help him rob the bank. There are also some Warner Brothers cartoons that play with characters being able to read titles. There's one in which the THE END title appears too soon, and Daffy Duck pushes it off the screen.