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Trekkie Communicators Now a Reality
SolFire writes "Forbes is carrying an article about Vocera Communications and their little internal communication system that they have working at their office that functions like the badge communicators from ST:TNG. The employees wear the system as a badge and touch it to start the connection. Then they speak the name of the person they want to talk to and the system connects them using VOIP for one-on-one communication." We mentioned these in 2002.
but does it make the classic "deet deet" sound?
Data: Data to Lt Worf.
No real delay
Worf (over comms): Go ahead Data.
The delay is only enough for Worf to open his mouth and talk. It is not long enough to replay "Data to Lt Worf." I freely admit I'm crazy.
Scotty at work is really going to hate me...
It's also easy to integrate the system with desktop phones and mobile phones. The database software allows the device to forward its messages to phones and pagers and also can accept calls forwarded from phones.
This would seem to be the next logical step for the Nextel style "walk-talkie" communications. In a few years we will all be taping our shirts to answer our phones, but the only real limiting factor I see here is I cannot really imagine everyone using a cell phone today escentially walking around talking on a speaker phone. It would be so overwhelming that you would hardly be able to carry on a conversation.
It that ends up the case, I'm sure we will all be sitting around telling people how we remember the good old days when you could actually hear yourself think in a public place.
If they could make the whole thing fit into an ear piece, and just use the mini-boom mic that you see on a lot of cell phone head sets now, they would probably spread like wild fire, but all I have to say is I have a hard enough time not losing my cell phone as is.
-Adam C. Greenfield
... might help prevent all the double posts we get regarding VOIP articles.
That is one heck of a badge from the picture they show. I was thinking of the little triangle pin-on from Star Trek.
...everyone answers to "Nerd".
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
...is just gonna look like a homeless wacko saying "can you hear me now?" just staring into the sky...
They should have used a wifi standard. They could have sold to a larger market. Many cities (ie, Verizon in Manhattan) are putting up wifi hot spots. Then you wouldn't be limited to the office. People could also use it around the house if it could patch into the POTS network.
Someone could use it around the house while watching TV to alert the wife that a new cold beer is needed.
--
Real-time deal updates from major deal sites.
Shatner uses these to dictate his albums to his secretary...
"Dr. Johnson, please finish your business and get back to Ward 3"
Sometimes you need a little peace and quiet.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
There is no way I will ever be able to talk my wife into letting me have one of these setups. Darn!
Use a full name (w/ middle initial), a number tacked on the end, a location ("Frank at LA"), or whatever. Hasn't been to hard to work out with email addresses.
It'd look a little odd to see someone walking down the road, repeatedly tapping their chest, saying "Robert! *smack* Ro-bert! *smack* Robbberrrtt! *smack* "
What they've produced is an ugly little box which you keep in your pocket, purse or belt. What they could have had -- for minimal extra investment -- is something that people would be proud to show off. Vocera need to have a conversation with the folk at Apple.
Slashdot monitor for your Mozilla sidebar or Active Desktop.
Oh great, I can just see this at the hospital
*beep* Doctor Smith, this is the Lab, Mrs. Thompson's results came back positive for chlamydia.
I'd be more impressed with a belt-pack which communicated with a small earbud via bluetooth or similar.
Article also mentions paging for an anesthesiologist and getting the closest one. I wonder if they do that based on the AP, or if they have plans to add a GPS receiver. Considering the amount of interference in a hospital, I can't see GPS working.
On a more serious note, the badge, if you stick on your breast pocket, will have one heck of a time picking up your voice, especially in a noisy enviroment. Otherwise you will have to bow your head and pull your shirt up. Looks quite odd.
Indefinitely Detained US Citizen
I use my hands free kit now. I touch the button on the ear piece, speak the name of the person I wish to call and voila, I'm one of the teaming masses walking around looking like I'm talking to myself. So ok, this is located on the shirt ala ST and uses the PTT model, ho hum.
What I want is a blue tooth hands free kit that's small and comfortable enough to keep in your ear (and doesn't make you look like a 'tard, figuratively and literally) that has a very easy way to dock it seamlessly into your phone.
The title should be updated. A Trekkie communicator brings to mind Captain Kirk flipping open a palm-held device. A Trekker communicator indicates a lappel-pinned badge. Please be more diligent when posts involve Star Trek sub-cultures.
... now, should I post this anonymously, or openly attach my geek-code
If only we Trekkies had someone to talk to...
Like James T. Kirk?
"How come Homer and Krusty look like clones?"
It was to show the irony that Bart did not respect Homer, while at the same time idolizing Krusty (essentially the same person).
Online Starcraft RPG? At
Dietary fiber is like asynchronous IO-- Non-blocking!
Look at the iPod, the only real reason why it is taking off is becase it is fashionable. If I had a cell phone, that had a bluetooth headset, and a pin that did the conecting I would be happy. I don't like carrying my phone around, but a simple decorative item(changable covers anyone????) with a bluetooth headset for a private converstion would be really cool.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
I can't even sit at my desk for two minutes straight without a user bothering me for something, even though they've been told time and again that the proper channel for non-emergencies is email (for me, at least). I think that phone calls and unannounced visits are the all-time biggest productivity-busters in existence. I think a communicator-style device would suck. I had a fleet of 70 Nextels for my users originally, but when you can't even escape the direct-connects when you're trying to concentrate, you soon realize how harmful they are to productivity.
At least this is an ST technology that works. Once on the set of the original Trek in 1967, an executive for a tech company saw the automatic doors. You just walk up to them and *whoosh* they open. No big sensor doormat, no nothing. He offered a million dollars for the technology.
The "technology" turned out to be two stagehands who yanked them open JIT.
I agree that the communicator style won't (or shouldn't, imho) bode well for public communication.
From the hardwired rotary of the past to the 24th century communicator, we're evolving from both sides into something ~almost, but not quite entirely~ like the phones we have today. You're suggesting a small phone with voice dialing almost perfectly.
I remember an Apple Quadra commercial from 1990 or 91 where a little kid says, 'Computer, call Grandma.' The only different thing 14 years later is the form factor.
i've decided, after reading several other unrelated stories here on slashdot, that this sort of thing doesn't go far enough.
want something really badass? combine these communicators with the "campus ghosts" concept. throw in a gps. tie it all back in to a huge server farm in the bowels of some university.
now you can smack your communicator and address the computer (with it's awexome speech recognition capabilities and limited AI) directly, and ask it for directions; or maybe just what's on the menu at the cafe, or if there are any books left in a particular subject at the bookstore.
you could smack it up and set it to "record mode" so that it picked up your professor's lecture, and then later you could grep through it verbally, or have the text or audio file uploaded to your desktop. set reminders on the thing, ask it for definitions of words or have it call off a formula to you, or send the text to your pda.
hell, you could even ask it for a weather report or world news.
of course, this is largely based on "Prime Intellect" from the online novel of the same name - uh . . . only, without all the reality warping and stuff.
i'm just sayin . . . hurry up with the future. i need a little electronic elf to keep up with my crap and make sure i don't kill myself in some dumbass fashion.
** Chigusaaa!!! You're the coolest girl in the WORLD!!! **
A hard set IP wouldn't work well for roaming.
What you want is an IM-like system. Give each communicator a unique id, and let the central server map id's to IP's as necessary.
What Star Trek doesn't show you, is the many hours each day that the Ship's Counselor has to spend working with the comm. system just to get it to want to work. Apparently the system suffers some of sort of depression. I don't understand it.
And when one of these badges freezes up, you can reset it by tapping the button twice and shouting "REBOOT!"
One of them is awarded a red shirt.
And then we will be done.
...is this going to get left on accidentally. People will be getting fired left and right.
Or will people learn real quickly not to say "stupid (*&*(&" as soon as they hang up the phone.
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
Every other geek's Star Trek wishlist:
1) Seven-of-Nine
2) Holodecks (see #1)
3) Faster than light travel
4) Shuttles that levitate
5) Replicators
6) Teleportation
..
...
9,472,381,478,471,832,741,592,158) Communicators
"No prints can come from fingers / If machines become our hands." -- Jack Johnson
> I always wanted to say, "Open channel D,"
> into my fountain pen.
I'm sorry, but exactly what is stopping you?
Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
Ha! When these come in, my call name's going to be "Supreme Commander of the Universe."
"Butthead to Supreme Commander of the Universe, it's not funny anymore, change my name back."
"Derp de derp."
The devices are very cool. You sign in with your voice (the system stores a voice print that authenticates you). It knows who else is logged in to the system and can locate them if you assign locations to the AP's (big brother calling). It also ties in to your pbx system so you can dial the phone,"call 222-222-1342". Has a series of voice commands-voice recognition. You can setup groups and do group calls. A hospital is using it for paging/communications system in house. Devices are small and can be clipped on or hung on your neck with a lanyard. Can be used by multiple people. If the battery runs low, you sign off, drop the old one back in the charger. Pick up a new one and sign in and off you go. You can set it to "not disturb" you. And it tells you who is calling first (screen those calls) before you answer. Much more intelligence built into the server, this device has great potential... Now to program them to order chinese food for me automatically....
It'd be cool if the system was set up such that you can ask it where someone is, and have them located via GPS on the badge.
Picard: "Computer, where is Commander Laforge?"
Computer: "Commander Laforge is in the 10 Forward restroom, Stall 3."
wbs.
Huh?