[Proposed] Hands Free Tricorder Unit

[Alex]

Please review the following information for discussion and approval:

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Hands Free Tricorder Unit

The Hands Free Tricorder Unit, usually abbreviated HFT, is exactly that. It is a fore arm band with a tricorder unit attached. This was designed for Combat and Intel units in mind.

There are three variants based on the data a Combat/Intel Unit would be most interested in gathering.

Tactical Variant: This variant displays map information, basic information about troops, location, basic health status (alive, wounded, dead), enemy force location if they are not hidden, it can be programmed with unit biographic information for better target identification, etc. The maps can be pre-programmed before or be fed from a command center or ship.

Medical Variant: This collects detailed information about the forces it is programmed to monitor. It gets readings from the troops' comm badge as it reads vitals. This information can be sent to a command unit or starship.

Command Variant: This variant is a combination of the Tactical and Medical variants. It is not as specialized each one, but it gives a unit commander enough information to make command decisions without having to interrupt his unit's operations.

Intel Unit: This unit is related to the tactical unit as it has map loading. It can also develop a map if the Intel officer is going over new terrain. It has an interface that can help accessing computer systems and downloading critical information. It can translate languages in a less intrusive manner than the universal translator. It can also give out a magnetic pulse that can disrupt local computer, communication, and power, with a max range of 20 yards. This also destroys the tricorder unit.

The forearm band does have an adapter that can allow a standard tricorder to fit, but a standard tricorder does not fit as well and is not as easy to read.

[FruitLoop]

I'm not sure I'm understanding how the forearm thing works. Do you just press a button and it shows you everything? Or do you have to enter some commands? Because if you have to enter commands, I don't see where it would be that different from the handheld one.

[Alex]

What I understood about the proposal is that it is a smaller, less functional version of a tricorder, used for specific personnel who need access to information but don't neccessarily have both hands free to use it. The arm band just attaches it to your arm; you still need to enter commands with the other hand. Admiral Hansen can correct me if I'm mistaken, but that was how I interpreted the proposal.

[Stern]

Why would it be less functional? As time goes on you would think that the device would become MORE functional as it became smaller. Having it project a holographic display that is also interactive would be kind of neat as well. It reminds me of a device I saw in Mass Effect, where the character's arm had a device that would display your menu as a hologram, allowing you to go into several different tabs and view different things. I'll do a little more research on this and reply again, but I wanted to pose that if they can create things in the holodeck that are as solid and realistic as, well, reality, it only serves to think that eventually as the technology becomes more advanced that they would be able to "shrink it down" yet still retain the functionality of the original device (which even in TNG was quite bulky.)

EDIT: Here's an image of what I am more or less talking about; http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... mputer.png

Ignore the fact that it comes off of a cartoon, the concept or idea is still valid as far as what I was thinking about. In actuality I saw it more or less as hovering over the wrist like this; http://thelifestream.net/wp-content/upl ... n-84-3.jpg

The other thing I think I am seeing as a trend in modern technology that could be really neat is more of a real sort of heads up display. Google glass is a thing, and I think that we are going to see a trend heading in that direction as we become more integrated with technology. Has anyone considered some sort of headpiece that would serve as a HUD in AWAY missions or other situations?

[Jilrak]

This unit has a couple of focuses.

1. To streamline what an individual seems. Remember this are for specialized units. A marine trooper does not need the same information as say a medic or the unit commander. They aren't less functional per se as they are streamlined.

2. Yes, there is a hands based interface. This isn't your next generation of tricorder really, it is making what is there easier to use in a certain arena. I start up my unit, say as a doctor, link to my troops to monitor, then when I need to I can just look down to see statuses and still keep shooting, cutting, climbing, etc. There is no need to put my tricorder away. Then if I do need to change what I am looking at, yeah, I have to use my hand to adjust.

[Alex]

I meant to come back to this sooner. Like Admiral Hansen said, the intention is not meant to be less functional per se. It is meant to give the user what he needs when he needs it, and only what he needs. Too much functionality could leave someone with a less intimate knowledge of a tricorder struggling to bring back a screen he just closed. Lord knows I've done that on my cell phone, and I'm an engineer (though in my defense, my background is in mechanical, not computers).

[Stern]

How is that any different from a standard tricorder? Tricorders come in a variety of types; there is the stock universal tricorder, as well as specialized medical, science, and engineering tricorders (as well as, oddly enough, a psychotricorder for use by counselors of all things.)

I guess what I am saying, more or less, is that it doesn't sound like it would be less useful, just simply follow the same pattern as the standard tricorders (being specialized to what the person does or needs.) My initial argument in my post above was more or less in the vein of... The more advanced the Federation gets, the more universal a device could be. But I could see them sticking to the varient-types that you listed out in your initial post as well. I just think there was some confusion about the whole "less functional." I don't like that wording, and I think it should be more functional, especially if it is just a wristband that can be activated on the fly without you needing to devote your hands to it (running down a corridor from enemies, being able to pull up a map or scan the area, all the while holding a rifle or phaser as you do.)

[Joe_Rhimer]

I'm sorta with Stern on this one, though I'm not sure Hansen is still in this discussion? You around? lol

At anyrate, I sorta dig the idea of the projected display, and there's no reason to not give voice commands. I would think of this sort of like a laptop vs. a smart phone today. Both can do many of the same things, but the smart phone isn't as robust in many areas. You want to monitor life signs or try and plot an escape route, perfect for both. You want to perform complex computations and analysis, it's time to bust out the bagged version. Is that sort of what you had in mind, Stern?

[Stern]

More or less. You could even use things like giving it a heads up display, in the vein of Google Glass, or the like. Similar to how you could havea bluetooth device connected wirelessly to your cellphone, I imagine they'd have something even more advanced and useful in that era that the shows designers did not think of.

I too like the idea of having a device that can be used on the fly; this isn't just pertinent in the obvious combat situations, because not every sim focuses on combat all the time. It could be useful for a doctor while they are working on someone, for an engineer who is deep in a jeffrey's tube, with barely enough room to shift around and even work with a tricorder. Letting him have a HUD or voice commands to a device that he doesn't even really have to touch if he doesn't want to would be incredibly useful. Same for a science officer or security.

[Alex]

That makes sense to me. I think there are situations where voice commands would not be desired, such as certain combat situations, but that can always be a feature that can be shut off.

You also mentioned something like Google Glass. I've been talking to the CO and XO from the Richter about some technology that they wanted to use for their ship, including glasses that can act as a HUD. That could potentially interface with this. I believe they had something similar in mind for a combat oriented tricorder. I'll post something for those items from the Richter at a later.