I suggest reading the lore for the last bit. There is no command bridge, you are in an immersion pod using your brain to command various systems on the ship, crew are still there to assist, your ship has about 2/3rds the crew of a ‘traditional’ ship in EVE. But that’s the whole capsuleer bit and the pod you end up in when the ship blows up.
As for animated portraits, hey, more shiny is good if it’s suitable dev time for a minor project.