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00:00How's it going, my dudes? This video's brought to you by Squarespace today.
00:04You know them as that cool little thing, what sits in your hand, and you can check the internet and everything on the-
00:09No, I'm kidding, it's of course not your smartphone, it's the Tricorder.
00:13It's been around in Star Trek since 1966, and you might be a bit surprised to find out where the idea for the Tricorder originally came from.
00:22Thank you so much to the wonderful Jack Kiley for writing the original article upon which this is based.
00:27I'm Sean Ferdick for TrekCulture, and here are 10 things you didn't know about Tricorders.
00:33Number 10, a brief history of the ones that occasionally explode.
00:36The world's most famous scanning device has a three-fold name, but the story of its creation is two-fold.
00:41The original impetus for the idea came from Gene Roddenberry as a way to expand the role of the Yeoman.
00:46In a memo to Robert H. Justman from the 14th of April 1966, as cited in The Mating of Star Trek, Roddenberry noted,
00:53it has been suggested that she, meaning the Captain's Yeoman, carry, as part of her regular equipment,
00:58some sort of neat, over-the-shoulder recorder electronic camera,
01:01haven't given much creative thought to what this would look like.
01:04Such thought went to Oscar-winning artist, designer, and sculptor Hua Ming Chang.
01:09As brilliant as he was prolific, Chang had already designed the Talosian heads for the cage,
01:13and later created the M113 salt creatures, the Balok effigy, the Gorn, the Tribbles, the Vulcan loot,
01:20the Romulan bird of prey, the classic flip communicator, and built the phaser props based on Matt Jeffery's design.
01:26For his tricorder design and build, Chang charged Desilu Studios a mere $275 a piece.
01:32His initial sketch that can be found in Inside Star Trek, The Real Story,
01:36is both elegantly simple and finely detailed, featuring the familiar screen, information disks,
01:42top pivot, and push buttons that make the device iconic, with or without a certain tendency to explode.
01:48Number 9. Naming magic.
01:50According to the Starfleet Medical Reference Manual,
01:53tricorders are, in practice, a small sensor computer recorder, or a tri-function recorder.
01:59The fact that the meaning of the name has never been discussed explicitly on screen
02:03gets the Star Trek Lower Decks treatment in the soon-to-be-released USS Cerritos Crew Handbook.
02:08As Ensign Rutherford states,
02:10good old tri-key, they call it a tricorder, because it cords so many more than three things.
02:14In Star Trek Enterprise, they were just called hand scanners, of course, simpler times.
02:18What it does cord, as a matter of advanced future science fact,
02:21does just as well to be mostly indistinguishable from magic,
02:25a handy device to move the plot along.
02:27We're never actually shown the tricorder operations manual.
02:30Occasionally, TV magic also clashes with in-world practicalities.
02:33Just how did Voyager get those tricorder upgrades in Season 2?
02:37If you believe Rick Sternbach, they had them in the cargo bay all along.
02:40The original series era tricorders weren't given a model number
02:43until perhaps most recently in Those Old Scientists,
02:46when Boimler suggested that TS-122 might be the model's true name,
02:51with the TS-120 being a predecessor.
02:54Trek's following century then gave us a whole new series of names
02:57for a brand new series of tricorders.
03:00Number 8, Next Gens.
03:01From Star Trek The Next Generation onwards,
03:03we've had the TR-566,
03:06the TR-587,
03:08the TR-590-10 and 11,
03:10the Admiral Janeway Future Erased Ones,
03:13the relatively slimline ones,
03:16TR-8-90,
03:1715,
03:18those Nemesis Pam Pilot ones and the Purple Stripe ones,
03:21amongst other tricorders.
03:23The farthest far future of scanning is all about what you can cram into a tricom badge,
03:28and in Star Trek Insurrection,
03:29we also got the sneakiest of peeks at the wrist tricorder.
03:32Wearable tech?
03:33That'll never catch you on.
03:34It is sadly not true that Martin Cooper's original mobile phone was inspired by Star Trek,
03:40but Motorola did give a knowing nod to the original series communicator
03:44when they named their first clamshell phone the StarTac in 1996.
03:49Art imitated life imitated art,
03:51when the 25th century tricorders got a very 21st century upgrade in Star Trek Picard's Season 2.
03:57They were Samsung Z flip phones in a case.
04:00A medical version with a detachable hand scanner was also seen in Picard's Season 3.
04:05All the flip tricorder designs in The Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine
04:08were the work of senior production illustrator and designer Rick Sternbach,
04:12who also co-designed Deep Space Nine,
04:15the Intrepid and Prometheus class,
04:16the Runabouts,
04:17and the Delta Flyer.
04:18Number 7.
04:19Uses,
04:19Misuses,
04:20and Abuses.
04:21There's a big red bit labelled Emerge EMRG
04:25on the TR560, 580, and 590 tricorder modules.
04:29You might think that this was to send a distress call,
04:32but according to the Next Generation Technical Manual,
04:34it's actually the emergency dump everything to the ship button.
04:37Pressing it will send the tricorder's entire memory up to a range of 40,000 kilometers,
04:43disabling all scanning functions for about 0.875 seconds,
04:47and draining half the power as well.
04:49Aside from ensuring Starfleet has all your data before you die,
04:52there are plenty of things you can do with a standard tricorder.
04:55Packed full of mechanical, electromagnetic, and subspace sensors,
04:58all tricorders from the start of the next generation to at least Star Trek Nemesis
05:02had three input settings.
05:04Geo,
05:04for geological,
05:05bio,
05:06biological,
05:06and met,
05:07as in meteorological,
05:09for all your scanning needs.
05:11Tricorders can't detect neutrino emissions, however,
05:14so connect to a visor instead.
05:15The Star Trek Voyager Technical Manual gives a rather blunt description of how to use your tricorder.
05:19Simply point it at whatever it is you want to study.
05:21If you're after exact detail on how to use one to cause localized seismic disruptions or anesthetize a patient,
05:28then check out the Starfleet Survival Guide.
05:30Note that to really mess with the tricorder, you'll need a Thoron generator.
05:34Number six,
05:35Medical Tricorder.
05:36We have Beverly Crusher, or rather Gates McFadden,
05:38to thank in part for the gloriously detailed TNG-era tricorder technical information available to us.
05:45McFadden,
05:45a stickler for getting medical procedure as accurate as possible,
05:49as they put it in the Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual,
05:52requested a set of consistent operating guidelines that were then devised by designer Rick Sternbach.
05:57From the manuals, we know that the Next Generation Era Medical Tricorder is basically a standard tricorder
06:03with a specialized medical peripheral on top.
06:06This attachment adds 86 electromagnetic devices designed for medical use.
06:10The removable hand sensor has 15 high-resolution devices capable of active and passive scans of the entire body,
06:17internal organs, infectious microorganisms, and more.
06:20The TR-590 Tricorder X, introduced in Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager,
06:25had the detachable hand scanner in the back.
06:28The original series medical tricorder was also a standard tricorder with benefits.
06:32According to the Starfleet Medical Reference Manual,
06:35the medical tricorder was outwardly similar to other modules,
06:39but came equipped with a diagnose, analyse, and record modes,
06:42as well as the remote scanner.
06:44Larger than its 24th century counterparts,
06:46the TOS Medical Tricorder had the handy advantage of a lower compartment with emergency surgical kit.
06:52Number 5. Klingons have Hukra May 2.
06:55So focused are we on our favourite Starfleet models,
06:58we often forget that other alien species in Trek have their own versions of the tricorder.
07:02Even the warrior race needs to scan things,
07:04or they're better to batleth you in the end.
07:06The first time we saw a Klingon tricorder,
07:08Hukra, singular in the language,
07:10on screen was in Star Trek III The Search for Spock,
07:13when Krooge whipped one out on the Genesis planet.
07:16The piece was designed by Industrial Light and Magic,
07:18who also created the Klingon Bird of Prey,
07:20Communicator, Daktag Knife,
07:22and the updated Starfleet tricorder for the film.
07:25The reference book The Art of Star Trek
07:27has the preliminary sketch of the Klingon tricorder
07:30with spring-loaded on mechanism,
07:32as well as practical lights,
07:34and a note stating,
07:35we'll have one or two lights in the back as well.
07:38The first Romulan tricorder to be named as such in dialogue
07:41appeared in Star Trek Generations,
07:42and was designed by John Eves.
07:44Eves also designed the distinctly less hefty
07:47Jem'Hadar Dominion tricorder
07:49for the Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode
07:51Hippocratic Oath.
07:52His original concept art,
07:53showing the tricorder with Velcro prop attachments
07:56for a Jem'Hadar forearm,
07:58was auctioned for $200 by iCollector.com.
08:01Number four, toys and tape recorders.
08:03If you grew up in the 1970s,
08:05you probably had your eye
08:06on the Mego Corporation's first ever Star Trek action figures
08:10and accompanying Enterprise bridge playset
08:13with spin-around transporter
08:14and a whole two stools.
08:16Did the Spock figurine talk to you in a dream?
08:18As well as getting your transporter in a twist,
08:20you might have spent 1976 begging your parents
08:24for the Mego Star Trek tricorder.
08:25Essentially a jazzed up tape recorder with a microphone,
08:27the Mego tricorder did have a flip-top lid
08:30and a relatively recognisable rotating moiré display screen.
08:35It also came with a cassette that on one side
08:37played 30 minutes of audio from The Menagerie Parts 1 and 2,
08:41the other side was left blank,
08:42allowing children, overgrown or otherwise,
08:44to tape their own adventures,
08:46as a commercial from the time put it.
08:47Why was it blue?
08:48Dabba-dee-dabba-dammed if I know.
08:51The design of toy replica tricorders
08:53has certainly improved over the years.
08:55The Playmates and Diamond Select varieties
08:57certainly look the part
08:59and the technology is keeping up too.
09:01The Wand Company is set to release
09:03a functional original series style tricorder
09:05with actual sensors and sound recorder,
09:08a working display screen
09:09and interchangeable data discs.
09:11Number 3.
09:12Whatever happened to the Psycho tricorder?
09:14This isn't the name of a bloodthirsty,
09:16sensured tricorder that will stab you in the shower.
09:18It's an offshoot of the medical model
09:20that only ever featured in one episode
09:22of the original series, Wolf and the Fold.
09:24The Psycho tricorder,
09:25as seen in that episode,
09:27was also just a standard tricorder prop.
09:29Capable of scanning and recording memories
09:31and of psychological examination more generally,
09:34the Psycho tricorder could be operated
09:36by a medical technician,
09:37although they might get killed by Jack the Ripper
09:39before they can get to the bottom
09:40of any hysterical amnesia.
09:42The Psycho tricorder has appeared
09:44in a smattering of beta canon works.
09:46In the original series Mud's Angels short story,
09:48the business as usual during altercations,
09:50we even get a psychohistorian with a Psycho tricorder,
09:54but that's about it.
09:55It is possible that the functions of the Psycho tricorder
09:58were later incorporated into the standard medical tricorder
10:01or made redundant by other techniques.
10:03In the Star Trek Voyager episode Night,
10:05the Doctor uses a medical tricorder
10:07to help diagnose Neelix's anxiety attacks
10:10as Nylophobia, the fear of nothingness.
10:12Number 2.
10:13Raspberry Pi in the Sky.
10:14Back in the day,
10:15you could transform your Palm Pilot or Pocket PC
10:18remember those?
10:20I'm so old.
10:21Into a rudimentary tricorder.
10:22Then, there was, naturally, an app for that,
10:25although not without a few cease and desists from CBS.
10:28Taking full advantage of the miniaturized computer power
10:30of the Raspberry Pi,
10:32fans have also built their own impressive multifunctional models,
10:35neatly nicknamed Pi Quarters.
10:37Chris Detective Zero Barrett
10:39or Obso1337 on YouTube
10:42is one such fan who took a Diamond Select TOS Science tricorder
10:46and turned it into much more.
10:47Barrett disassembled the toy,
10:49added in the Raspberry Pi,
10:50a display screen, battery,
10:52and a Sense Hat board,
10:53originally developed for use on the ISS,
10:56equipped with an accelerometer,
10:58magnetometer,
10:59gyroscope,
10:59barometer,
11:00and temperature and humidity sensors.
11:02Not only does Barrett's TOS Tri-Pi-Corder,
11:05TR-108 in his naming system,
11:07look like the real thing,
11:08it works like one too.
11:09Capable of recording sensor data from the environment
11:12and translating it on screen
11:13as close to the original series graphics as possible.
11:16And if that weren't extraordinary enough,
11:18his next project,
11:19the Pi Quarter 2 TR-109,
11:22was based on the next generation TR-560-6 model
11:26with functional buttons,
11:27a display screen,
11:29lights,
11:29a thermal camera,
11:30and an environmental sensor package.
11:32This guy's awesome
11:33and I would like to be his friend.
11:34Number one,
11:35take your sci-fi art,
11:36scan a broken heart.
11:37What medical professionals do today
11:39by employing an array of tests,
11:41techniques,
11:42and technologies
11:42has been pretty much scaled down
11:44to the one belt clippable
11:46or over-the-shoulder carryable in Star Trek.
11:48The vision of such diagnostic ease
11:50has inspired many
11:51to translate the on-screen dream
11:53of the medical Tricorder
11:54into a real-life lifesaver.
11:56In 2012,
11:57the XPRIZE Foundation,
11:58a non-profit that does its best
12:00to promote a Gene Roddenberry-esque,
12:02equitable and hopeful future
12:04of abundance for all,
12:05launched the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE.
12:08Teams were challenged
12:08to create a Tricorder-like device
12:10that could accurately diagnose
12:1210 core medical conditions
12:14such as atrial fibrillation
12:16and abnormal heart rhythm,
12:17diabetes or stroke,
12:19and three elective conditions
12:21including hypertension,
12:22monocleosis,
12:23glandular fever,
12:24and HIV.
12:25The device also had to be capable
12:27of monitoring five vital signs
12:29in real time.
12:30Five years later,
12:31no participant had met
12:33all of the criteria
12:34for the $10 million grand prize,
12:36but the trekly-named
12:37Final Frontier Medical Devices
12:39won the first prize
12:40of $2.6 million for DXT-ER,
12:45an at-home medical instrument kit
12:47with AI diagnostic app.
12:48Voyager's EMH, Robert Picardo,
12:50even opened the awards ceremony
12:52with the required,
12:53please state the nature
12:54of the medical emergency.
12:55Dudes, it's your favorite
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13:38That is everything for our list.
13:40This has been one of the most fascinating ones
13:43I've recorded in a while.
13:44So thank you so much to Jack Kiley
13:45for the original article
13:46on which this is based.
13:48Thank you as well to Mel Braun
13:49for editing this
13:50into the beautiful video
13:51you have just seen.
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14:06Give yourself a scan
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