Have you ever wanted to wear a Starfleet Combadge in real life? Well, a small community of fans are bringing back iconic Star Trek Combadge for use in a world where smartphones already exist by creating new software for old tech.
Gene Rodenberry’s Star Trek has been a beacon for tech creators since the 1960s. Video calling, hologram technology, robotics, AI and even space travel has all been influenced by the sci-fi show to some degree.
As reported by Hackaday, Vocera Communication Badges from the early 2000s designed for use in hospitals have been revived with new software to use across the world. These badges work exactly like Star Trek Combadges do, allowing a user to contact another person with a simple tap on the chest.
Project Combadge, a fan project, aims to create a new online backend for the Vocera hardware to revive all of the e-waste left from the early 2000s. With the hardware currently useless due to the original software being discontinued, these badges can only work with new servers created by fans.
Dubbed the Spin Doctor server, found here on GitHub, fans are attempting to use the badges as communication devices between multiple users. At the time of writing, the server doesn’t work entirely as intended, but when it does you’ll be able to connect your badge to a server with your friends and ask about the status of the Warp Core whenever you want.
Alongside the speech functionality, the Star Trek Combages have additional skills such as generating transcripts of conversations to look back on past conversations. Fans also hope to be able to make it so that you can use the Combadge to control your Smart Home so Smart Bulbs, TVs and other appliances can be turned on and manipulated with a tap of your breast and a quick vocal command.
These fans aren't the only ones looking into getting a real-life Star Trek Combadge ready for everyone to use. In fact, Apple (yes, iPhone Apple) filed a patent for a piece of tech remarkably similar to Star Trek's idea a few years ago.
Of course, there are much easier ways to communicate with people on the internet nowadays, but the realization of a true Star Trek Combadge is too awesome to pass up for any Trekkie.
While it’s not as cool as scientists trying to create a real-life holodeck or even a full-sized recreation of the Starship Enterprise, it’s always nice to see fans breathe new life into old tech.