Communicator (Star Trek)
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The communicator is a fictional device used for voice communication in the fictional universe of '' Star Trek.'' As seen in at least two instances, the ''
Original Series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...
'' episodes "
Tomorrow Is Yesterday "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Michael O'Herlihy, it first aired on January 26, 1967. It was the f ...
" and "
Day of the Dove "Day of the Dove" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marvin Chomsky, it was first broadcast November 1, 1968. In the episode, an al ...
," it can also serve as an emergency signaling device/beacon, similar to a
transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
. The communicator allows direct contact between individuals or via a ship's communication system. The communicator was designed by
Wah Ming Chang Wah Ming Chang (August 2, 1917 – December 22, 2003) was an American designer, sculptor, and artist. With the encouragement of his adoptive father, James Blanding Sloan, he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven ...
, who also designed other ''Star Trek'' props such as the Phaser and
Tricorder A tricorder is a fictional handheld sensor that exists in the ''Star Trek'' universe. The tricorder is a multifunctional hand-held device that can perform environmental scans, data recording, and data analysis; hence the word "tricorder" to refer ...
, as well as the first
Romulan The Romulans () are an extraterrestrial race in the American science fiction franchise '' Star Trek''. They first appeared in the series '' Star Trek'' (1966–1969). They have appeared in most subsequent ''Star Trek'' releases, including '' The ...
ship. The communicator in the ''Star Trek'' universe surpasses the capabilities of modern
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
technology, the prototypes of which it inspired. It allows crew members to contact starships in orbit without relying on a
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
to relay the signal. Communicators use subspace transmissions that do not conform to normal rules of physics in that signals can bypass EM interference, and the devices allow nearly instantaneous communication at distances that would otherwise require more time to traverse. In ''
Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'' (''TOS''), communicators functioned as a plot device, stranding characters in challenging situations when they malfunctioned, were lost or stolen, or went out of range. Otherwise, the transporter could have allowed characters to return to the ship at the first sign of trouble, ending the storyline prematurely.


Development of communicators

Throughout ''
Star Trek: Enterprise ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...
'' and ''
Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'', on-ship communication is achieved via communicator panels on desks and walls, and sometimes through the use of
videophone Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Ency ...
s. While formed into a
landing party A landing party is a portion of a ship's crew designated to go ashore from the ship and take ground, by force if necessary. In the landing party promulgated by the US Navy 1950 Landing Party Manual, the party was to be equipped with small arms †...
, the crew carried hand-held communicators that flip open. The top section contains a
transceiver In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. Thes ...
antenna and the bottom contains user controls, a speaker and a microphone. The device was designed and built by
Wah Chang Wah Ming Chang (August 2, 1917 – December 22, 2003) was an American designer, sculptor, and artist. With the encouragement of his adoptive father, James Blanding Sloan, he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven ...
, who also built many of the other props used in the series. Wrist-worn communicators were used in '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' and remained in use by some Starfleet installations and vessels during the time of '' The Wrath of Khan.'' However, the traditional handheld communicator returned in later films. The reason for the switch was not explained, but the non-
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
source ''Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise'' offered the explanation that Starfleet discontinued use of the wrist-worn communicators when they were determined to be prone to repeated failures after suffering minor impacts. In '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (TNG) and later series, Starfleet officers and enlisted personnel wear small communicator badges on their left breast. These devices are in the shape of the
Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
insignia and are activated with a light tap. They also incorporate the universal translator. There have been four versions of the communicator badge seen on screen. The first was a prototype used by members of Section 31 during the second season of '' Star Trek: Discovery'' (DIS). The second was used through ''TNG'' and in the first two seasons of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (DS9). The third was used in the last five seasons of ''DS9'', throughout '' Star Trek: Voyager,'' the four ''TNG'' films, and in flashback scenes in '' Star Trek: Picard'' (PIC). The fourth was seen in use in 2399 in ''Picard''. Use of the modern badges dates back at least as far as the time of the '' Enterprise-C.'' (Lt. Richard Castillo is shown wearing a communicator badge in the TNG episode " Yesterday's Enterprise," the Starfleet insignia of his TOS movie-era uniform now functioning as a communicator badge.) According to Data in the episode "Time's Arrow, Part One" at a poker game in 1893, the badge is made out of a crystalline composite of
silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...
,
beryllium Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form m ...
, carbon 70 and gold. In ''Deep Space Nine,''
Bajoran The Bajorans (variously pronounced , , ) are a fictional species in the science-fiction '' Star Trek'' franchise. They are a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Bajor, who have a long-standing enmity with the Cardassians, o ...
officers and enlisted personnel also wear a small communicator badge that functions much the same as their Starfleet counterparts. However, Bajorans wear their badges on the right breast of their uniform tunics. Cardassians are shown wearing their communicators on their left wrist. While wall and desk panels are still present, officers and crew consider them a secondary system, relying primarily on the badges. Viewscreens are used for visual communications. In Starfleet vessels and installations, communication can also be accomplished by verbally directing the computer to initiate communications with another person.


Relation to current real technology

On July 12, 2010, CBS released an iPhone application, created by Talkndog Mobile, called ''Star Trek'' Communicator. The application replicated the design and iconic chirp of the communicator. In June 2016, The Wand Company Ltd. released a highly accurate and working replica of the ''
Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'' Communicator using Bluetooth to enable it to pair with, and connect to, a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone so as to allow it to be used in exactly the way envisioned in the original ''Star Trek'' TV show; to make and receive calls. Advances in voice recognition and cloud-based artificial intelligence allow the user to use voice dialing via the rather simple interface, but also to ask questions using
Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer qu ...
,
Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike t ...
, Cortana or any other digital personal assistant through the Communicator. This is much the same as when a member of the ''Enterprise'' crew in the original series asks the ship's computer to find a colleague or ask for a status update. In December 2016, Fametek LLC. released the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' CommBadge using Bluetooth 4.2 technology to enable it to pair with a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone or tablet to make and receive calls and utilizes voice commands via Siri, Google Assistant or Cortana. The Bluetooth ComBadge also has a Cos-Play mode which when pressed activates the same Chirp sound effect as seen on the show. No real-world equivalent to subspace communication has been developed, proposed, or theorized. However, many other aspects of Starfleet communications technology are commonplace. For example, locator/transponder functionality is implemented via
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
,
LoJack LoJack is a stolen vehicle recovery and IoT connected car system that utilizes GPS and cellular technology to locate users' vehicles, view trip history, see battery levels, track speeding, and maintain vehicle health via a native app. Prior to se ...
, RFID, and radio direction finder devices, and cloud-based digital assistants perform in a way similar to the artificial intelligence of a Starfleet ship's computer.


See also

*
Clamshell design The flip phone or clamshell is a form factor of a mobile phone or other device which is in two or more sections that fold via a hinge. If the hinge is on a long edge the device is more likely to be called clamshell than flip phone (e.g., No ...
* "Grillo" flip phone (Italy, 1965)


References


External links

* {{Star Trek Star Trek devices