Comments on: Real life Trek tech

By: k.f.

k.f. — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:53:34 +0000

Ordered that voice light dimmer from vossystems.com, 4 weeks still nothing and no-one ever gets back to you. Visa can’t even contact them! Be warned.

By: yo

yo — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 03:48:49 +0000

More Trek Tech in the news today:

“Purdue researchers have come up with a handheld device
they say can determine the chemical composition of an object
or detect trace elements on its surface, sort of like the tricorder
that the actors used to whip out on Star Trek.”

Well, not quite a tricorder. But, progress nonetheless.

http://news.com.com/Handheld+substance+scanner+becomes+a+reality/2100-11395_3-6162786.html

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:33:47 +0000

Who cares if it’s “old news” to some? Working “communicators” being used in more hospitals with voice recognition? Pretty sweet if you ask me ;)

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:39:12 +0000

I too have the Voice dimmer. It works very well!! I was able to hook it up to some fluorecent lights, so thats what runs the lights in my room, but I cant dim them, otherwise it will mess up the light.

I heard about the hospital using these a year or two ago in an old Star Trek: Communicator magazine!! So while both of these are cool, they are also both quite old.

By: McCoy97

McCoy97 — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:49:42 +0000

Greetings one and all,
They are using digital tech for the coms system were Cell phones use Micro wave Technologies. The U.S. Military has been using direct coms system for about 10 years now. You can run fiber optic cable thur out the hospital with converters built in the ceilings, with the transmitters planted thur out the building giving the system a clear singal. The problem is the people using the system.
Thanks for your time, McCoy97

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:12:51 +0000

Beyond the obvious appeal to trek role playing fans this device has even broader marketing appeal.It’s a great way for parents to keep in contact with children who are at play or pre-teens in light of the recent reports of child abduction etc.It also displaces alot of resentment a child can feel about feeling too accountable to parents if it’s sold as a cool thing.

By: THOR

THOR — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:00:18 +0000

I actually have the voice-activated dimmer; a good friend of mine bought it for me on the cheap while in Qatar. It works surprisingly well. I’ve had it installed on a hanging lamp in my living room for some time now, and I appreciate turning it on when I come into the house at night (no light switches near the door). Further, it cements my nerdity whenever I bring new people home … whether that’s a good thing or not is debatable, but I like it.

By: CmdrR

CmdrR — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:40:35 +0000

Yes, but do their sterile field chest units come with ashtrays? (Thinking waaaay back to “Journey to Babel.”
I know my quips should be funnier, but I was up until three watching syndicators hack up “Paradise Syndrome.”

By: Adam Cohen

Adam Cohen — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:40:17 +0000

Ugh. I OWN that silly Picard/Playmate communicator. Yep… mint in box. Laugh at me, you jackals. Get it over with…

By: The NCC Factor

The NCC Factor — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 14:43:07 +0000

Agreed, I’d like to have that kind of cool little interface but just too costly.