‘Star Trek’ To Inspire New Communicators For First Responders
Star Trek science-fiction technology inspires new communicators for first responders, according to WebProNews. Although devices in the real world have already been inspired by Star Trek, OnBeep has raised $6.25 million to launch its new product. Founded by Jesse Robbins and Greg Albrecht, OnBeep benefits from Albrecht’s background as an emergency responder. Using the Star Trek Starfleet comm badge as inspiration, the duo look forward to serving the industry of first responders by providing a practical and necessary communication device.
Forbes reports that ever since its 1966 debut, Star Trek has led the movement of bringing ideas from “science fiction to science fact.” After nearly 50 years, scientists and technological experts are growing closer to achieving warp drive, universal translator, handheld computers, medical tricorder, energy weapons, androids, teleportation, and now the comm badge. Although some of these inventions defy current discoveries in physics, the possibilities are still out there for those who enjoy the challenge of making these ideas real. Whether the science fiction tips have come from Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or Star Trek: Enterprise, the series of television shows and popular Star Trek movies have inspired scientists and inventors for decades.
“I kept coming back to this idea of bringing real-time group communication, the type of communication that I’ve always been able to use in a lifesaving capacity, to everyone… I wanted to be able to bring them the same sort of heads up, engaged, in the moment tech that we have when we use [fire department] radios, but that don’t weigh 4 pounds,” Robbins said about the OnBeep communicators. The idea will help first responders enjoy a hands-free line of communication with the goal of optimizing performance and speed within emergency situations. Robbins also adds, “It clips to your shirt or coat or blouse or bag strap. It’s worn very similar to a badge or a broach and designed to be operated with one hand, a single gesture. You’re able to press or gesture communicate, speak and be heard.”
Inquisitr adds that Star Trek technology has been in the news before. Just recently, a Boca Raton mansion hit the Florida market for $35 million. Its luxury status? The estate boasted 8 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms, featuring an in-home movie theater with a life-sized replica of the Starship Enterprise’s command deck. From science to interior decorating, Star Trek inspires a variety of industries. The Inquisitr also reported that Star Trek has inspired educational programs, such as Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where physicists were able to implement the basic premise behind teleportation devices, moving “quantum information from one electron to another that was 10 feet away.”
While Forbes confirms that NASA scientists avidly use Star Trek ideas to investigate developments in technology and new inventions, OnBeep is pursuing an idea of their own. Following the “wearable technology” trend, Robbins adds that developing the Star Trek-inspired communicator is “a statement, whatever technology decisions, whatever fashion decisions people make, it’s a statement about who they are. We focus a lot on getting out of the Silicon Valley, San Francisco typical tech worker design mentality.” From science fiction to the real world, the Star Trek comm badge is on the way.
[Image courtesy of Subspace Communique]
