Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Wireless Networking Hardware Technology

Trekkie Communicators Now a Reality 355

Posted by michael from the scotty,-beam-down-some-more-red-shirts dept.
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.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Trekkie Communicators Now a Reality More

Trekkie Communicators Now a Reality

Comments Filter:

  • Yeah, (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:49PM (#8600606)
    but does it make the classic "deet deet" sound?

    • Location (Score:5, Funny)

      by wideBlueSkies ( 618979 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @07:43PM (#8605141) Journal
      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.
      • Picard: "Computer, where is Commander Laforge?" Computer: "Commander Laforge is in the 10 Forward restroom, Stall 3."

        Picard: "Computer, connect me to Commander Laforge"

        Computer: "I'm sorry, I can't do that; Commander Laforge is in conference with Master Bates."

        .

  • Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:50PM (#8600613)
    I bet they are not as fast as the ones on Star Trek. Ever notice that the computer on Star Trek semes to route the connection before the target name is given.

    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.

    • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (or IS it?) (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Maybe it uses the NASA technology to know what your going to say b4 you say it SlashDot [slashdot.org] -Auger
    • It's obvious - they're listening for Sub-vocal commands [slashdot.org].
    • Why would there be delay in fast than light computers. What kind of geek are you that you have never read the Techincal manuls for Enterprise.

      The computers use a small warp field around the processors to increase calculation speed.

    • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

      by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:06PM (#8600876) Homepage Journal
      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.

      The real fantasy here is that Worf, or anyone in your workplace, will answer a communicator that fast. Has there *ever* been a busy signal?

      "Lt. Worf is on a nother line, please hold. ..dah-dah-dahhhh..dah-daddah-dah-dahhh..."

      Now when you face someone who appears to be talking to you, you won't see a headset and think they may be on a call. This should add to confusion. (Like that funny phone commercial where the woman comes onto tha man, she's unaware is on a call.)

      • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

        by Steve B ( 42864 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:12PM (#8600965)
        Now when you face someone who appears to be talking to you, you won't see a headset and think they may be on a call.

        I recall Scott Adams predict that this would be used as an excuse to insult people with impunity (claim to be talking to somebody on the phone rather than the hulking brute in front of you).

      • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

        by drwiii ( 434 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:41PM (#8601330) Homepage
        The real reason Q was pissed off at humanity, of course, is that there was no letter Q on traditional phones. Nobody could key his name into the company phone directory to find his extension. You try spending a few centuries getting only wrong number calls and see how you turn out.

      • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

        by bebing ( 624220 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:48PM (#8601429)
        Ensign Jones: *hits communicator* 'Captain, I have received reports that there
        may be a bug in certain ship software, is Holodeck 1 running?'
        Captain Picard: 'Why yes, it is running.'
        Ensign Jones: 'You'd better go catch it!'

        Ensign Jones: *hits communicator* 'Guinin, do you have Klingon Prince Garduk in
        a can?'
        Guinin: 'Why, yes we do'
        Ensign Jones: 'You'd better let him out then!'
    • All joking aside, this could easily be done by storing the audio in a small buffer (say, 5 seconds would be more than enough for "[any conceivable name] to [any conceivable name]"), doing the name detection and connection negotiation, then playing the contents of the buffer to the targeted party before opening two-way communication.
      • this could easily be done by storing the audio in a small buffer....doing the name detection [recognition] and connection negotiation, then playing the contents of the buffer

        The original poster implied that there was not even enough pause allowed to play back the message "Data to Worf" to Worf before he answered. Thus, even instantanious name recognition AI would not be enough to match the turnaround in the show.

        I suppose the writers could claim that Worf was the default, but then Data would not have t
        • Since the Enterprise(D)'s communication system appears to transmit intra-ship communications including the opening line (usualy), there's only one way it could work.

          Obviously the only answer is that the computer must know who you with to speak to before you state their name. Either the computer is far smarter than they give it credit for or it's reading their minds. (This could help explain the universal translator as well.)

          This is further supported by the instances in the show when the recipient of a cal

    • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

      by Wind_Walker ( 83965 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:25PM (#8601134) Homepage Journal
      Not only that, their transporters are amazing. People on the planet below never seem to mind waiting until Picard got to the Transporter Room, and as soon as Picard walked in he gave the order to Energize. But people on the surface are always ready to greet the Away Team, no matter how much time they fiddle around arguing with the Doctor or configuring the Image Enhancers.

      If I were standing on a planet waiting to be beamed up, I'd be terrified about moving too far, sitting down (I'd be beamed up without the chair!), or even worse going to the bathroom. Could you imagine the kind of embarassing situations that would arise from being beamed out of the toilet?

    • Precognition is the answer (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:26PM (#8601151)
      Anyone who has ever worked on a Federation Star Ship knows that the comm. system uses a "defocused temporal perception" to give the comm. system a limited sort of precognition. The inventor of the system claimed he got the technology for it from a parallel universe of sorts, that he stole it from an elevator system (the "Happy Vertical People Transporter") at a parallel universe corporation called the "Sirius Cybernetics Corporation". No one knows what he's talking about.

      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.


      Modern elevators are strange and complex entities. The ancient electric winch and "maximum-capacity-eight-persons" jobs bear as much relation to a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Happy Vertical People Transporter as a packet of mixed nuts does to the entire west wing of the Sirian State Mental Hospital.

      This is because they operate on the curios principle of "defocused temporal perception". In other words they have the capacity to see dimly into the immediate future, which enables the elevator to be on the right floor to pick you up even before you knew you wanted it, thus eliminating all the tedious chatting, relaxing, and making friends that people were previously forced to do whist waiting for elevators.

      Not unnaturally, many elevators imbued with intelligence and precognition became terribly frustrated with the mindless business of going up and down, up and down, experimented briefly with the notion of going sideways, as a sort of existential protest, demanded participation in the decision-making process and finally took to squatting in basements sulking.

      An impoverished hitch-hiker visiting any planets in the Sirius star system these days can pick up easy money working as a counsellor for neurotic elevators.

      --Douglas Adams, "Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

    • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:4, Interesting)

      by da cog ( 531643 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:29PM (#8601195)
      There is actually a little warp field around the main computer that allows computations to perform at faster than the speed of light. Due to relativistic effects, this means that the computations must be traveling backwards in time, so the computer already knew what Data was going to say. Furthermore, it knew what he was going to say several seconds ago. By the time Data had finished asking the computer to connect him with Worf, not only had Worf's communicator already paged him, but it had done so several seconds ago. This is how Star Trek charecters get the time to sigh or stretch for several seconds before responding, and yet always sound to the other person as if they'd responded right away!
    • Now you know the advantages of a truely pre-emtive kernel.

      and you thought it was just marketing speak :)

    • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Kethinov ( 636034 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:59PM (#8601576) Homepage Journal
      While your complaint is technically valid, we're supposed to pretend that there is indeed a delay long enough for the message to be repeated to the reciever. If they made it truly realistic every time the comm system was used, there would be too much time being wasted in each episode. In eposodic television, corners have to be cut everywhere to make sure there's time and money for more important parts of the show.

      Besides, the comm system is just another one of those little technical inconsistancies that have plagued trek for years. Like the Klingon forhead problem, the Trill spots problem, the numerous time travel paradoxes, and episodes like TOS:Miri or Voy:Threshold that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. It's TV. Cut it some slack. :)

    • The answer is obvious (Score:3, Interesting)

      by aztektum ( 170569 )
      If you were wasting time on /. as early as I was this morning you'd know they just have one of these [slashdot.org] on every starship too.

      I wonder if it was extra or just standard equipment by then.

    • Re:Not as fast as Star Trek (Score:5, Funny)

      by starm_ ( 573321 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:31PM (#8601958)
      "No real delay"

      That true, there is some weird shit happening to time in general in Star Trek. Did you notice how, all incidents seem to be resolved within an hour of time?

      Also they have events that for us in our universe would take much longer than in the Star Trek Universe. The one you mensioned about the communicator is one. But did you also notice poker games last only a few minutes? Same thing with meetings, meals, surgery, war battles, rarely these events last more then 10 minutes whereas here in our universe they would all last hours or days.

      And also everyone and everything in the "Star Trek Universe" seem to take a break every ten-fifteen minutes so that the television channels can show us a commercial. Its true! Try to notice next time you watch, after a commercial you never feel like you missed anything. Nothing happened during that time, its almost like time "froze" for that period. Also you'll notice they take more breaks towards the end of the hour maybe its because they get tired.
    • You're worried about the subtelties of communication delays??!!

      Here's some news for ya...

      KLINGONS AREN'T REAL!!!

      Sheesh, some people... :-)

  • Man oh man.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by hookedup ( 630460 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:50PM (#8600615)
    Scotty at work is really going to hate me...

  • Next Logical Step... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by adamgreenfield ( 245052 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:50PM (#8600621) Homepage
    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 [nextel.com] 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.

    • Re:Next Logical Step... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This would seem to be the next logical step for the Nextel style "walk-talkie" communications.

      The next logical step after "walk-talkie" would be true two-way communication. Full duplex is so much better. The Nextel thing is only about looking cool. The other day I thought, "Why is that driver holding his cell phone in front of his face? Oh, Nextel. What a dork."

    • Re:Next Logical Step... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by pvt_medic ( 715692 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:54PM (#8600689)
      just intigrate this technology [yahoo.com] of picking up words that havent been spoken yet

      Slashdot Thread on it [slashdot.org]

    • Re:Next Logical Step... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Muddie ( 72996 ) <larry@@@runswithscissors...com> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:54PM (#8600693) Homepage
      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.

      Isn't that what those Nextel "walkie-talkie" phones are, basically? Carrying on a conversation over a speaker phone? I resent those beyond a reasonable passion. It was rude enough to carry on a conversation on a cell phone in public, now I have to hear it as well? And that annoying *chirp* to boot?

      Not too far away is your concern going to meet reality, I fear.
      • Isn't that what those Nextel "walkie-talkie" phones are, basically? Carrying on a conversation over a speaker phone?
        yeah, except they are only half-duplex. my phone, otoh, has this new FULL-duplex capability! imagine that! it can even do it without those little chirps you speak so fondly of
    • that is exactly what i was just thinking. it would seem to me that without an earpiece of some sort, this would get chaotic. it sounds like a great idea, ideed, but i dont want to hear both sides of every conversation. its bad enough when one person is talking extremly loudly and obnoxiously on a regular cell phone, but if theyve got their speaker turned up while using these things, the other person is loud and obnoxious as well.
    • BlueTooth ear pieces?

    • Re:Next Logical Step... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ghettoboy22 ( 723339 ) * <scott.a.johnson@gmail.com> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:57PM (#8600749) Homepage
      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.

      That's where directional audio [slashdot.org] comes in. If only "you" can hear what the other person is saying, there ya go!

    • Re:Next Logical Step... (Score:5, Informative)

      by hrbrmstr ( 324215 ) * on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:57PM (#8600750) Homepage Journal
      We evaluated Vocera last year. Really nice tech, but it wasn't - buzzword warning - enterprise ready. While it may work in one building, the server-side of it isn't scalable (or wasn't - I haven't looked at them since). It didn't help their case that it was Windows-based (get a virus/worm, lose communications *:^).

      The lanyard-attached phone was pretty nice (since I can easily lose my cell phone as well) and I believe you can get a headset if you need to keep the receiving end private. I can still see those annoying/loud conversations popping up much more with these units, tho.

      The routing capabilities worked well and it would be great for our help desk and emergency incident response teams. Being able to say "Where's Bill?" and get a response was also pretty cool. It's only as accurate as the nearest associated access point, but it's still better then not knowing which side of the building some is on.

      Once they get more enterprise features (integration, scalability, global functionality) we'll probably adopt it in key areas.
    • I cannot really imagine everyone using a cell phone today essentially walking around talking on a speaker phone. It would be so overwhelming that you would hardly be able to carry on a conversation.

      I really think that essentially, this is what already happens, in a lot of corporate bull pens you see people walking around talking into space. And it defiantly happens in the car. The badge link is the next step, some sort of proximity mic that simply links with current cell phone services like phone / net /

    • 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.

      How about sub-dermal cochlear implants which receive audio wirelessly? Also throw in the research on sub-vocalization that Slashdot posted today and Voila! you have what would previously be considered mental telepathy. Now if they can just make people's heads expl

    • Ear Piece (Score:3, Interesting)

      by john82 ( 68332 )
      You don't even need a boom mic. I've got a Jabra ear piece that doesn't need a boom. The nice trick would be a keyword that would facilitate activation of the comm link. Voice activation for all functions. The biggest problem with making it an entirely in-the-ear unit would be radiation from the antenna being that close to your melon.
    • 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 fact

  • The editors at slashdot need these ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Sheepdot ( 211478 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:51PM (#8600629) Journal
    ... might help prevent all the double posts we get regarding VOIP articles.

  • Scalability (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gid13 ( 620803 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:51PM (#8600631)
    What do they do if there are two people with the same name?

  • Big badge (Score:5, Interesting)

    by baywulf ( 214371 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:51PM (#8600640)
    That is one heck of a badge from the picture they show. I was thinking of the little triangle pin-on from Star Trek.

  • And for company-wide broadcasts... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:51PM (#8600642)

    ...everyone answers to "Nerd".

    • Off topic (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cmburns69 ( 169686 )
      "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).

  • The Verizon dweeb (Score:4, Funny)

    by GPLDAN ( 732269 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:52PM (#8600652)
    ...is just gonna look like a homeless wacko saying "can you hear me now?" just staring into the sky...

  • Simliar to wifi, but not quite. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dealsites ( 746817 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:53PM (#8600678) Homepage
    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. [dealsites.net]

  • William (Score:4, Funny)

    by jstrain ( 648252 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:53PM (#8600682)
    Shatner uses these to dictate his albums to his secretary...

  • I can see it now... (Score:3, Funny)

    by indros13 ( 531405 ) * on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:54PM (#8600700) Homepage Journal
    ...Doctor enters restroom where other doctor has occupied the stall. All of a sudden, a nurse on the other end of the hospital pages the stall occupant. The message echoes throughout the bathroom:
    "Dr. Johnson, please finish your business and get back to Ward 3"

    Sometimes you need a little peace and quiet.

  • This really sucks ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by El Cubano ( 631386 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:55PM (#8600712)

    ... Vocera Communications and their little internal communication system that they have working at their office that functions like the badge communicators from ST:TNG.

    There is no way I will ever be able to talk my wife into letting me have one of these setups. Darn!

  • Imagine how cool when you forgot your hand over your badge and start saying things you shouldn't be saying :)

  • Voice recognition (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dirk Pitt ( 90561 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:58PM (#8600751) Homepage
    I hope they've become better than Sprint with the voice recognition dialer. At least with a cell, people understand why I have to shout the same name 5 times in a row with different inflections.

    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* "

  • Vocera calling Apple... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FTL ( 112112 ) * <slashdot.neil@fraser@name> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:59PM (#8600778) Homepage
    The technology inside these communicators was the hard bit. While Vocera appear to have solved the technical problems, they screwed up the easy bit: Style. Which would you rather carry, this [forbes.com] or this [crankycritic.com]?

    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.

  • Fast Company was first with this story... (Score:3, Informative)

    by tbase ( 666607 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:00PM (#8600800)
    In this story [fastcompany.com] from last month's issue, Fast Company [fastcompany.com] talks about VOIP tech and specifically these communicators being used at a hospital.

  • Privacy (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bobthemuse ( 574400 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:01PM (#8600817)
    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.
    • I'd be more impressed with a belt-pack which communicated with a small earbud via bluetooth or similar.

      Hmm... I think I just described the nextel network with a voice-recognition feature available on many high-end phones.

  • Yeah But does it (Score:4, Funny)

    by myownkidney ( 761203 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:02PM (#8600829) Homepage
    Run Linux? [mithuro.com]

    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.

  • Price? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Does anyone have any idea what these little gizmos cost? Vocera seems to be one of those mysteriously vague businesses who want their "partners" to push "solutions" rather than slapping on a price tag and raking in the bucks.

  • What's the big deal? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by binaryDigit ( 557647 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:03PM (#8600846)
    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.

    • Re:What's the big deal? (Score:4, Funny)

      by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:47PM (#8601401)
      "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"

      I would like to add that it HAS to look like Uhura's ear piece, otherwise I'm not buying it.

  • Trekker (Score:3, Funny)

    by Nyhm ( 645982 ) * on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:07PM (#8600891)
    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

  • Great! (Score:4, Funny)

    by dupper ( 470576 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:07PM (#8600894) Journal
    If only we Trekkies had someone to talk to...
  • Seems like this was...

    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=100545&cid=8 57 2821

  • Don't bother me (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rigmort ( 584960 ) * on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:11PM (#8600953)
    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.
    • Do you still help them when they come to your desk? If so, when someone comes up to you desk you should not look at them, extend your arm towards them, palm out, fingers out, and say "talk to the email", and otherwise ignore them.
  • I can see this company doing a couple of things different with this device. One, use a different protocol for transmission of the signal. I work in a office where our sales reps are always out when you need them to be here to answer questions. If this device had a hard set IP address, that is routeable, at least if the sales rep was near a hot spot, you could get ahold of them. Also, it would be nice to see some better design with this device. It's isn't huge or anything, but it needs to be stylish, so

  • wouldn't be too hard (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ghettoboy22 ( 723339 ) * <scott.a.johnson@gmail.com> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:13PM (#8600977) Homepage
    In a few years to integrate GPS and be able to say "Computer, locate CmdrTaco". Or how about Google's former voice search [google.com]?

    Google's CTO Craig Silverstein has already said his grand vision for google in the future would be something along the lines of When search grows up, it will look like Star Trek: you talk into the air ("Computer! What's the situation down on the planet?") and the computer processes your question, figures out its context, figures out what response you're looking for, searches a giant database in who-knows-how-many languages, translates/analyses/summarises all the results, and presents them back to you in a pleasant voice. [zdnet.co.uk]

    With a few more technologies like this, it's only inevitable this WILL happen.

  • Tag ... You're it (Score:5, Funny)

    by Chief Technovelgist ( 759322 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:15PM (#8601011)
    New office game - walk up to someone, tap their communicator, say the name of the president of the company and walk away. You're it!

    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.

    • And the outtakes of the actors running into doors that didn't get opened on cue are truely funny!!!
    • Math Time

      $1,000,000
      / (1 Person X $7 hour X 40 hours X 52 weeks)
      = 1 guy pulling open the doors automatically for 68 years
      OR
      = 68 guys pulling on 68 doors for one year
      add nauseum in any combo

  • Slashdot Redux (Score:3, Funny)

    by handy_vandal ( 606174 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:17PM (#8601036) Homepage Journal
    We mentioned these in 2002.

    And you will again in 2005.

    -kgj

  • why not take it to the next LEVEL?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by subjectstorm ( 708637 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:18PM (#8601042) Journal
    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.

  • System error (Score:4, Funny)

    by Have Blue ( 616 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:29PM (#8601184) Homepage
    And when one of these badges freezes up, you can reset it by tapping the button twice and shouting "REBOOT!"

  • How often... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bluesman ( 104513 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:44PM (#8601365) Homepage
    ...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.

  • Big Deal (Score:3, Funny)

    by GunFodder ( 208805 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:52PM (#8601479)
    Who cares about a stupid badge communicator? WHERE THE HELL ARE OUR PHASERS GODDAMMIT!!! Looks like the research community needs to focus on the important things.

  • Health care is in trouble! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Nevo ( 690791 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:06PM (#8601650)
    "One study by the First Consulting Group, a healthcare consultancy based in Long Beach, Calif., found that when the 300-bed St. Agnes Healthcare facility in Baltimore deployed the Vocera system, its nurses saved more than 1,100 hours a year, while the entire organization saved some 3,400 hours."

    They only have three nurses?

  • Cute (Score:4, Funny)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:08PM (#8601666) Homepage Journal
    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."

  • Actually used/seen the Vocera device in action (Score:4, Informative)

    by Palmzombie ( 552666 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @05:49PM (#8604204)
    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....

Slashdot Top Deals

Algebraic symbols are used when you do not know what you are talking about. -- Philippe Schnoebelen

Close