Whereas there’s nonetheless one thing undeniably cool concerning the flip-open communicators used within the unique Star Trek, the actual fact is, they don’t actually look all that futuristic in comparison with trendy cellphones. However the upgraded “combadges” utilized in Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology and its varied massive and small display spin-offs — now that’s a tech we’re nonetheless making an attempt to catch as much as.
Because it seems, it may not be as distant as we thought. An organization referred to as Vocera truly put out just a few fashions of WiFi “Communication Badges” within the early 2000s that had been supposed for hospital use, which as of late might be had on eBay for as little as $25 USD. Sadly, they’re mainly nugatory with out a proprietary back-end system. Or not less than, that was the case before the Combadge project got involved.
Designed for folk who actually need to begin every dialog with a brisk faucet on the chest, the first venture of Combadge is the Spin Doctor server, which is a drop-in alternative for the unique software program that managed the Vocera badges. Or not less than, that’s the purpose. Proper not every little thing is working, but it surely’s on the level the place you may join a number of badges to a server, assign them customers, and make calls between them.
It additionally options some early speech recognition capabilities, with transcriptions being generated for the voices picked up on every badge. Lengthy-term, one of many targets is to have the ability to plug the output of this server into your house automation system. So you might faucet your chest and ask the pc to activate the entrance porch gentle, or because the documentation hopefully prophesies, begin the espresso maker.
There hasn’t been a lot exercise on the venture within the final 12 months or so, however maybe that’s simply because the precise group of rabid nerds devoted builders has but to come back onboard. Perhaps the Hackaday neighborhood may assist? In spite of everything, we all know how much you like talking to your electronics. The {hardware} is reasonable and the supply is open, what extra may you ask for?
