Communicator is a fictional device used for voice communication in the Star Trek fictional universe. In the Original Series in the episodes of Tomorrow is Yesterday and Reconciliation Day, it was used as an alarm beacon device similar to a transponder . The communicator allows direct contacts between individual users or through the ship communication system.
Communicator from the Star Trek universe surpasses the technological capabilities of modern mobile phones, the prototype of which is. This allows the crew of the starship to communicate with the ships in orbit, without relying on an artificial satellite to relay the signal. Communicators use subspace transmissions that do not comply with the normal laws of physics in that signals can bypass electromagnetic interference , and allow you to almost instantly connect with a subscriber at distances that would require more time to connect.
In the Star Trek: Original Series (TOC) series, when communicators broke, were lost, were stolen, or were out of reach, they created difficult situations for the characters. In such cases, the Communicator sent a signal to the transporter to return to the ship, thus ending the plot prematurely [1] .
Content
Communicator Development
In the series Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series , the message on the ship was received through the communications panel on the tables and walls, and sometimes via the videophone . During disembarking, the crew uses a handheld communicator, which reclines. The upper section contains the antenna transceiver , the lower section contains user controls, a speaker and a microphone. The device was designed and built by the American-Korean designer and sculptor Wah Ming Cheng, who designed a lot of other props used in the series.
In Star Trek: The Movie, a worn device was worn on the wrist, and the same variant is found on some Starfleet ships in the film Anger Khan . However, the traditional handheld communicator returns in later films. The reason for the transition was not explained, but a non- canonical source offered an explanation that Starfleet stopped using wrist communicators when there was a tendency to repeated disruptions after suffering minor strokes.
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation series and later series, officers and Starfleet personnel use a small communicator-badge attached on the left side of their uniforms. These devices in the form of a sign are activated by a light touch. They also include a universal translator. There are two versions of the communicator icon. The first was used in the “Next Generation” and during the first two seasons of “Star Trek: Deep Space 9” . The second has been used in the past five seasons of Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, and in films based on The Next Generation. The use of the emblem dates back to the times of “USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)” (Lieutenant Richard Castillo wore such a communicator-badge in the episode “Yesterday's Enterprise” from the “Next Generation”). According to the data from the episode "fork of the times. Part One "during the poker game in 1893, it is told that the badge is made of a crystalline composite based on silicon , beryllium , carbon 70 and gold.
In Deep Space 9, Bajoran officers and military personnel also wore a small badge-communicator on the right breast of the uniform, which functions in the same way as their Starfleet counterparts. Cardassians wear a communicator on their left wrist.
While wall and desktop panels are still present, officers and crew consider them a secondary system, relying mainly on badges. For visual communication, viewports are used. On ships and Starfleet installations, communication can also be accomplished by verbally directing a computer to initiate communication with another person.
Elements of the communicator in modern technologies
On July 12, 2010, CBS released an iPhone app created by Talkndog Mobile, called Star Trek Communicator. The application copied the design and cult squeak of the communicator [2] .
In June 2016, The Wand Company Ltd. a highly accurate and working copy of the Communicator from the Star Trek: Original TV series series, using Bluetooth , allowing to connect to a Bluetooth -enabled mobile phone and connect to it, exactly as provided for in the Original TV series; make and receive calls [3] [4] . The voice recognition capability and cloud artificial intelligence allow the user to use voice dialing through a fairly simple interface, as well as ask questions using Siri , Google Now , Cortana or any other digital personal assistant through a communicator. This is almost the same as when a crew member of the Enterprise starship asks the ship's computer to find a colleague or request status updates.
No real equivalent of subspace connection has been developed, proposed or theorized. However, many other aspects of Starfleet communications technology are common today. For example, the locator / transponder functionality is implemented using GPS , , RFID and radio direction finder devices , and cloud digital assistants are performed similarly to the artificial intelligence of the Starfleet computer.
Notes
- Making The Making of "Star Trek," Roddenbery, G., and Whitfield, SE Ballantine, 1968.
- ↑ iPhone Savior: Star Trek Communicator App Returns to iPhone . www.iphonesavior.com . The appeal date is April 20, 2018.
- ↑ The Wand Company - Timeline | Facebook . www.facebook.com . The appeal date is September 3, 2016.
- ↑ The Wand Company - Communicator .
Literature
- Riley, Gail Blasser. Wah Ming Chang: Artist and Master of Special Effects. - Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1995. - ISBN 978-0-89490-639-8 .
- Barrow, David. The Life and Sculpture of Wah Ming Chang. - Carmel, CA: Wah Ming Chang, 1989. - ISBN 978-0-9625293-1-3 .
See also
- Cellular telephone