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Unless you work in a hospital and equipped with a Vocera Badge. Anyone can ask for the position of a user and the device will tell them where in the building. If you told your supervisor you were walking over to user's station, and the communicator said you were in the lunch room, you got busted.

But they leave off the ones that have actually been realized. Communicators the size of a lapel pin were wild conjecture at the time of the original series.

And these actually exist in real life. One of the hospitals in my home city uses a Voceracommunication system. You press your lapel button, say the name of the person you want to talk to, and it opens a fucking communication channel between the two of you.

People overlook the simple things. I thought the most impressive part of Iron Man was the AI. "Holy fuck, his computer is telling a joke when it's not helping him design a suborbital flight suit." "Now it's bringing up the files on everyone he's flying past?"

You mean like:

http://www.utstar.com/Solutions/Handsets/WiFi/
or
http://www.vocera.com/ (star trek - like)
or
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/ZyXEL+P2000W

All are wifi SIP phones and work well with Asterisk

The article leaves out some cool stuff like they use Vocera which act like StarTrek communicator badges. I get a kick out of asking where a specific person is and because of the aceess point they are connected to the computer answers back with their location and if you would like to call them, all while walking across the campus. And they also leave out the fact that they don't bother using any security on their 802.11 though.

Vocera makes them, but if you have to ask, you really can't afford it.

Two quick clicks, first the one from within the original post and the second one on the products link at the top of the page will tell you that it's based on 802.11b. A little further digging tells us that it uses a 660 mAh Li Ion battery with 2 hours talk time and 30h standby (with an extended, 800mAh battery available).

As to 802.11 vs. cellular, in my hospital, you can't get a cell signal anywhere but the top floor (and even if you could, the Security goons rip the phone out of your hand as there's a fear - real or imaginary I don't know - that cell phones interfere with some wireless patient monitoring equipment). The place is lousy w/ WiFi signals though.

BFL

Two quick clicks, first the one from within the original post and the second one on the products link at the top of the page will tell you that it's based on 802.11b. A little further digging tells us that it uses a 660 mAh Li Ion battery with 2 hours talk time and 30h standby (with an extended, 800mAh battery available).

As to 802.11 vs. cellular, in my hospital, you can't get a cell signal anywhere but the top floor (and even if you could, the Security goons rip the phone out of your hand as there's a fear - real or imaginary I don't know - that cell phones interfere with some wireless patient monitoring equipment). The place is lousy w/ WiFi signals though.

BFL

Check out vocera - Star Trek communicators over 802.11b

They already have those - http://www.vocera.com/products/products.shtm

This has been a big topic on the Dartmouth campus lately, with VoIP being set up campus-wide. There are lots of people who will just use it with their laptops, but several profs already have a nifty little device from Vocera which hangs around the neck on a lanyard and is mostly voice-driven. (The comparisons to a Star Trek communicator in the article are actually pretty apt, except for the size) Their CEO was just here a couple days ago giving a lecture on the device. Very cool stuff, though most of the software is necessarily server-side, and seems to cost a hefty amount.

It's partly being touted as an alternative to cell phones (reception sucks up here) but 802.11 reception is too limited to make it worthwhile for those of us who live off-campus. Still, I'll be watching carefully to see how it goes.

A closer example of a Start Trek Comm unit would be this unit from Vocera. Of course, there is also the Nextel system which both behaves and looks surprisingly similar to the communicators from the original Star Trek series.

check out Vocera's system...

it has 802.11b, which, iirc, requires more silicon than GRPS.

They say it's for nurses or something, but honestly, I can't wait :-)

Vocera -- it was probably mentioned on /. 3 or 4 times last week.

Yesterday I submitted A Plan For A Wireless Park in Portland. Portland is re-designing its Waterfront Park.

They liked it! I got an immediate response from the people in charge who said they'd CC the wireless ideas to everyone in the department and include it in their newsletter.

I like the idea of interactive, engaging and site-specific applications. The Dialtone Symphony (.ram) is wholly produced through the choreographed ringing of people's own cell phones. Here are some other ideas:

• Talking maniquins
• Interactive Sculpture
• Triggered light/sound sequencers
• City Clouds
• 360 Live Video at public events
• Wi-Fi in Stadiums
• Traffic Maps
• Visitor Information and Narrated Neighborhood Tours
• Videoconference to linked Kiosks around the state or in nearby hotels.
• Real-time Location Information for event managers with devices like Vocera's communicator badge
• Jogging kiosks with comparitive times, personal history and bio monitor
• E-mail/picture kiosks
• RF-ID wrist bands for kids ($2.99) or "find friends" (free)
• Weather, news and park info
• Recreation Bulletin Board
• Live bird cams
• Events triggered by cell calls
• Jam sessions
• Card tournaments
• Yahoo games

The Public Review Draft of Portland's Waterfront Park Master Plan is available on-line.

The Morrison Bridge, in the center of Waterfront Park, has phone line access. An Orinoco 2500 ($1000) could drive Wi-Fi repeaters on the north end (near Saturday Market) and the south end, (near the Alexis Hotel), providing blanket coverage. The repeaters could be camouflaged as animals or Oregon historic figures. Waterfront Park also has a direct shot to the Council Crest tower where Winfield Wireless has a wireless ISP.

Rent out Segway Scooters with built-in Pocket PCs. Your GPS position would trigger Oregon Historical Society's Narrated Neighborhood Tours, Portland Visitor's Association's Self-Guided Tours, Portland Metro Maps or Lewis and Clark Maps. Wireless cameras could be helpful for the police, too.

Jacksonville Florida's free wireless hot spots provide tourist information as well as internet access. Multi-lingual kiosks, incorporating webtablets with language translation are available now. Text to speech can be output in a variety of languages. And it sounds good. Human voice samples are now incorporated into text to speech. Choose a language, respond by voice.

Don't give up! Put some wireless ideas together and send it to your Parks Department.

Dreams DO come true!

Interactive, engaging and site-specific applications are a click away. The Dialtone Symphony (.ram) is wholly produced through the choreographed ringing of people's own cell phones. Here are some other ideas:

• Talking maniquins
• Interactive Sculpture
• Triggered light/sound sequencers
• City Clouds
• 360 Live Video at public events
• Wi-Fi in Stadiums
• Traffic Maps
• Visitor Information and Narrated Neighborhood Tours
• Videoconference to linked Kiosks around the state or in nearby hotels.
• Real-time Location Information for event managers with devices like Vocera's communicator badge
• Jogging kiosks with comparitive times, personal history and bio monitor
• E-mail/picture kiosks
• RF-ID wrist bands for kids ($2.99) or "find friends" (free)
• Weather, news and park info
• Recreation Bulletin Board
• Live bird cams
• Events triggered by cell calls
• Jam sessions
• Card tournaments
• Yahoo games

The Public Review Draft of Portland's Waterfront Park Master Plan is available on-line.

The Morrison Bridge, in the center of Waterfront Park, has phone line access. An Orinoco 2500 ($1000) could drive Wi-Fi repeaters on the north end (near Saturday Market) and the south end, (near the Alexis Hotel), providing blanket coverage. The repeaters could be camouflaged as animals or Oregon historic figures. Waterfront Park also has a direct shot to the Council Crest tower where Winfield Wireless has a wireless ISP.

Rent out Segway Scooters with built-in Pocket PCs. Your GPS position would trigger Oregon Historical Society's Narrated Neighborhood Tours, Portland Visitor's Association's Self-Guided Tours, Portland Metro Maps or Lewis and Clark Maps. Wireless cameras could be helpful for the police, too.

Jacksonville Florida's free wireless hot spots provide tourist information as well as internet access. Multi-lingual kiosks, incorporating webtablets with language translation are available now. Text to speech can be output in a variety of languages. And it sounds good. Human voice samples are now incorporated into text to speech. Choose a language, respond by voice.

Parks have not caught up with the wireless society. Let's make it happen!

There's an interesting use of 802.11b technology at Vocera. It's a small device you can hang on your shirt like a Star-Trek communicator that uses wireless network infrastructure and voice recognitioh.

from the whitepaper:

"Vocera find a blood technician."
"Finding blood technician."
"This is sue Sue Harper, blood. tech. I am on 3A right now. How can I help you?"
"We need blood drawn from a patient in 6-103. Can you get up here soon?"
"Sure, I'll finnish here and be up there in a few minutes".

Wi-Fi cracker:
"Remember to suck all ten litres".

i was at a medical informatics conference, and came across these guys, vocera. this is the killer app for voice over ip. it works just like the star trek communicator. i see it being useful outside of the hospital and industrial setting too.