Photo Credit: CBS Studios Inc.
Trekkies around the world are anxiously waiting for the month of May to arrive, and the release of Star Trek Into Darkness. Those of you lucky enough to attend The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, this December at IMAX theatres will be treated to 9 full minutes of Star Treks prologue.
Trekkies around the world are anxiously waiting for the month of May to arrive, and the release of Star Trek Into Darkness. Those of you lucky enough to attend The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, this December at IMAX theatres will be treated to 9 full minutes of Star Treks prologue.
In celebration of 9 full minutes of trekkie bliss, and more importantly to show all you trekkie haters out there that without the innovative ideas of the show, you wouldn’t be reading this article on your tablet or smartphone; we have to put together a list of Star Trek gadgets that have become reality.
Who’s laughing now!
Since its first episode aired back in 1966, Star Trek has captivated the imagination of sci-fi lovers everywhere. From that point we were later graced with some great movies, and successful reprises; like Star Trek: The Next Generation, followed by many spin-offs like Deep Space 9 and Voyager. There are many reasons why we love everything about Star Trek and, whether it was the overall setting or imaginative and unique aliens’, every Star Trek fan remembers wishing that some of those gadgets would become a reality.
Here is a top 10 list we can not only celebrate, but we should be thankful for, inspiring some of the top gadgets we can’t live without today.
The Flip Phone
Star Treks ‘communicator’ was used on away missions and looked more like a walkie-talkie with a flip top. Taking notice of the image today, many are reminded of the first clamshell mobile phones by Motorola. This should come as no shock considering Motorola was inspired by the show, when in 1996 it introduced the first flip phone called the ‘StarTAC’.
The iPad
CBS and Paramount
There is one very amusing meme making its way across facebook – Captain Jean-luc Picard beneath an image of Steve Jobs holding the first iPad – the meme is meant to tell the world that Apple was not the first to come-up with the tablet; making Jean-luc’s image quip “B****…Please”.
Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, crew members used touch-based control panels called PADDS – personal access display devices, which clearly resemble the tablets we see today. But, an interesting piece of trivia is the PADD prop was a reflection of a constricted budget on set. No knobs or dials on the device meant very little needed to be constructed.
The Phaser
Obviously this is one particular gadget, won’t debut in the hands of the general public. Phasers, whether set to stun or kill, have become a reality within the military. Last checked, the military was still perfecting the design and functions of a phaser.
Computer Disks/USB storage
Although inevitable, the USB (small) storage, and floppy disks were seen by Star Trek as a convenient way to store data long before the computer industry decided to give it a go. On the show (original), they were small square colored pieces of plastic that when interested into various computer consoles, would display an array of information.
Sound familiar?
It should, because by the 1980’s and 90’s we were introduced to the 3.5-inch floppy disk, which closely resembled those pieces of colored plastic from the original show. Later on in the ‘Next Generation’, they had isolinear chips that held gigabytes upon gigabytes of data. Today we use USB flash drives, which once again look very similar to the isolinear chips.
The Touch Screen
CBS and Paramount
This is one of my personal favorites, not only for obvious reasons of sheer coolness and easy navigation; but because I remember fighting with my know-it-all sister about how this particular piece of technology would in fact become reality.
In the ‘Next Generation’, crew members used Touch-screen technology to fly the ship, fix stuff and perform difficult algorithms among many other things. Touch Screens were in fact premiering on many other shows as well, and many of us had a feeling the technology was already in the works.
Voice Activation
Paramount
On the heels of touch-screens, we have to give special shout-out to ‘voice activation’ technology. The computer software used on the show, lovingly named ‘computer’, almost reminds us of Google. She knew everything, and if you needed a question answered fast, all you had to do was ask.
Although we have nothing (yet) as advanced as the software used on Star Trek, we have made leaps and bounds in other areas. We have computer software that works on voice activation, as well as cars, Smartphone’s and many other electronic devices.
Bluetooth Head-sets
In the original series, Uhura, who is the communications officer, wears a giant silver earpiece while sitting at her station. In J. J. Abrams, newly revamped Star Trek Movie, Uhura (this time played by Zoe Saldana) can be seen wearing something a bit more comfortable resembling the ear-pieces we wear today. And if you really look close, you will notice the ‘blue’ light flashing on her ear-piece.
Tricorders
In the show, tricorders are handheld devices used for scanning or data analysis. A company called Vital Technologies, intentionally replicated the tricorder in the mid 1990’s, with a device they called the ‘TR-107 Mark 1. The Mark 1 can actually perform several scientific functions, such as an electromagnetic field meter, thermometer, barometer and light meter. The company actually sold around 10,000 of these devices before going out of business. Trekkies got excited a while back about something called a ‘Tricorder Android app’; however, dreams were quickly dashed when CBS screamed infringement…what happened to you CBS? You used to be cool…
GPS
Although the above image shows a transporter, which is a technology we are unlikely to see in our life-time, one thing the series taught us is they had the technology to find lost crew members and beam them back. Sensors on the ship were able to track the life-signs of crew members, allowing the beam to ‘lock-on’ and bring them back.
In 1995, the US declared GPS functional after launching 27 Earth-orbiting satellites, 30 years after the concept was introduced on Star Trek.
Check out: Scientists managed to ‘beam’ a ray of light from one side of a room to another.
Star Trek Photon Torpedo Coffin
And in our number 10 spot, and probably the most morbid gadget of them all, nerds everywhere can warp their corpse to the final geek frontier in the “Photon Torpedo” coffin. The company ‘Eternal Image’ provides the families of trekkie geeks everywhere, the final ride in a coffin based off the movie ‘Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn’.
Bonus Gadget
We should give notable mention to one more gadget inspired by Star Trek, check out the video below.
The Diagnostic Bed
Sonia Ingriselli
Sonia is the Executive Editor here at Geek Insider. Sonia has a passion for gadgets, technology and game consoles; she is proud to call herself a Zombie loving Tech-monster and spends most of her day's just writing. Follow me on Twitter @SoniaIngriselli
