Premium Essay

Star Trek Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 1375
Pages 6
It is 1987.
Ronald Reagan is president of the United States - and there are 5 billion people in the world. Star Trek airs its first episode. In it, Commander Riker asks for the location of Commander Data. An ensign then turns to the wall, and says “Tell me the location of Commander Data.” A computer voice then responds by saying that “Lieutenant Commander Data now located in Holodeck area 4J”.

That was 1987. It is now 2018. `You pull out your phone.

“Ok google - play some music”
“Playing music on Spotify”

No large rooms of computers. No futuristic sci-fi technology.
It’s not science fiction - it’s real.

What I’m talking about is the rise of smart speakers and smart voice assistants. It seems so simple: you say something and it responds. …show more content…
Amazon’s Echo can order literally anything from Amazon. Google Home integrates with your calendar and emails, and Apple’s Homepod plays music using a 360 degree 7 tweeter array.

All these features are made possible by large advancements in processing technology and software.

The history of smart assistants
1987 not only marked the year of Star Trek but also Knowledge Navigator; a concept marketed by Apple which featured an animated Butler on an iPad-esque device controlled by voice. Around this time, the classic Apple 2 computer was standard at a price today of $3100. It featured a MOS Technology 6502, 8 bit 1 MHz processor. The Apple A8 in comparison is a 64-bit dual core processor running at 8Ghz released in 2014 that powered Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6+.

The 6502 is nothing compared to today’s processors. While the MOS 6502 had only 3’510 transistors, the Apple A8 contains over 2 billion. It is because of this that smart assistants were so limited in the 1980’s - and it’s why Knowledge Navigator was too early for its time.

The reason I brought up the Apple A8 chip is that it is what controls the Apple HomePod. There are many reasons that Apple used the same processor found in the iPhone 6 in a speaker. One of them is called …show more content…
Many rely on thin strips of materials like ribbon microphones which have a thin strip of conductive foil which moves within a magnetic field to generate a voltage. Condenser microphones also have a thin plastic diaphragm which is coated with vaporized metal; making them very fragile. Whereas because MEMS microphones are so small and are usually encased in metal - it makes them fairly durable.

When strength, quality, cost and manufacturability is considered; the MEMS microphone comes out on top.

Because they are so small and so cheap but still high quality, many manufacturers design their smart speakers with an array of MEMS microphones - instead of just one. This allows for beamforming like in Apple’s HomePod. The University of Waterloo has tested arrays of MEMS microphones and found them to be a definite low-cost alternative to condenser microphones for array

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Star Trek Technology We Use Everyday

...Star Trek Technology We Use Everyday Star Trek technology has become reality that we use in our daily lives. There are many different forms of technology fields that have been shown in Star Trek as a first that have become a reality rather than a Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) fantasy. Star Trek technology came from the great imaginative minds of writers and designers with little to no knowledge of science in the original series. It wasn't until the second series that they started to incorporate actual scientific methods and terms. Advancements in science have come about through the influence of creative people thinking of the future. This technology has been instrumental in how we conduct our lives. Contemporary technology has been influenced by Star Trek in many ways. Phones were around for many years before Star Trek; however, they were tied down to the house or office by wires and the bulkiness of the devices. No one could possibly make a phone call on the go, yet they could by using a phone booth. However, using a phone booth would not be of much use since it couldn't be carried around. One of the greatest inventors of this decade, Dr. Martin Cooper, decided to come up with a new form of communicating with the rest of the world. "Dr. Martin Cooper found himself tripping over his phone cord when he saw Star Trek appear on the TV playing in the background. Cooper watched with envy as Captain Kirk calmly conversed while walking across an alien landscape." (Laytner, 2011) While...

Words: 1191 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Why Has Star Trek Lasted so Long

...Why Has Star Trek Lasted For So Long: The Longevity of Star Trek Thomas E. Stevenson Limestone College Author Note Thomas E. Stevenson, Department of Social Work, Limestone College. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Sample Grant Program. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Thomas Stevenson, Department of Social Work, Limestone College, Gaffney, SC 29340. Contact: saevok09@gmail.com Abstract This paper will explore the science fiction show Star Trek. It will look at Gene Roddenberry’s original idea behind the 1960s show. What made it so appealing? Why has it lasted so long? Also does JJ Abrams’ Star Trek lack the Gene Roddenberry’s vision? ). It began nearly fifty years ago in the 1960s with the original show simply called Star Trek. The setting of the show is the 23rd century aboard the Starship Enterprise. The ship is commanded by a Caucasian man from Iowa named Captain James T. Kirk. His first officer/ science office is the half-Vulcan half-human Spock. The ship’s chief physician is a Caucasian man from the southern state of Georgia. The ship’s chief engineer is the Scotsman Montgomery Scott. The bridge communication officer is a black African woman Nyota Uhura. The ship’s helmsman is Asian-American Hikaru Sulu. Finally, the ship’s navigator is man of Russian decent Pavel Chekov. Why Has Star Trek Lasted For So Long: The Longevity of Star Trek From its beginning, Star Trek made a strong commitment to what is now...

Words: 1615 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Turabian Style

...Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations presents two basic documentation systems: notes-bibliography style (or simply bibliography style) and author-date style (sometimes called reference list style). These styles are essentially the same as those presented in The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition, with slight modifications for the needs of student writers. Book Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. 1993. Star trek chronology: The history of the future. New York: Pocket Books. Journal Article Wilcox, Rhonda V. 1991. Shifting roles and synthetic women in Star trek: The next generation. Studies in Popular Culture 13 (June): 53-65. Newspaper or Magazine Article Di Rado, Alicia. 1995. Trekking through college: Classes explore modern society using the world of Star trek. Los Angeles Times, 15 March, A3. Encyclopedia Article Well-known reference books used as sources are not included in the Reference List but are cited in parentheses within the text. (Theodore Sturgeon, "Science fiction," in Encyclopedia Americana, 1995 ed.) Book Article or Chapter James, Nancy E. 1988. Two sides of paradise: The Eden myth according to Kirk and Spock. In Spectrum of the fantastic, ed. Donald Palumbo, 219-223. Westport, CT: Greenwood. ERIC Document Fuss-Reineck, Marilyn. 1993. Sibling communication in Star trek: The next generation:...

Words: 1093 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Utilitarianism

...name] This paper will discuss utilitarianism, its origins and how we can apply it to our lives today. I will show what would happen if everyone adopted this code of ethics and reasoning, and why I chose it.   Utilitarianism What is Utilitarianism? According to our textbooks, utilitarianism is the ethical system which believes that which is ethical is what will bring the greatest good or happiness to the greatest number of people (Turner, 2006). In a direct quote from the American Heritage Dictionary, utilitarianism is the ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that all action should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Though there are many varieties of the view discussed, utilitarianism is generally held to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. There are many ways to spell out this general claim. One thing to note is that the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is understood entirely in terms of consequences produced. What distinguishes utilitarianism from egoism has to do with the scope of the relevant consequences. On the utilitarian view one ought to maximize the overall good — that is, consider the good of others as well as one's own good (Driver, 2009).A well-known dialogue by Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and William Shatner (Kirk) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan;...

Words: 865 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Brooklyn Love

...Title (upper and lower case/can be 2 lines) Author DeVry University Professor Bunch Date of submission Project’s Full Title Here you will enter text body of the project. Add as many pages as are required in your project requirements. Notice that APA format calls for 1 inch margins all around. Each paragraph should be indented. Keep in mind that a college level paragraph should be 5to 8 sentences in length. The first paragraph of your paper is the introduction, and should include both an attention grabber and your thesis statement. Papers written in the APA style must document sources in the body of the paper. When applying direct quotes, try to use the sandwich technique. Introduce the author or the text, and then write out the quote in quotation marks, followed by an explanation or analysis in your own words of what the quote means to your research. Never begin or end a paragraph with a quote without introduction and explanation. Here is an example: According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2009), “Each year, about 1.3 million women in the United States have an abortion to end a pregnancy” (p. 4). Such a high number suggests that abortion is becoming more common place in the United States. You want to make sure that YOUR voice is the dominate one in your work – use the sources to back up your assertions. Your final paragraph is your conclusion. Use this paragraph to restate your main points and your thesis statement. I also suggest...

Words: 436 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

A Culture of Rejection

...Jacob Kleintz FYWT Christa DiMarco Research Paper A Culture of Rejection Graphic designer David Carson reflected the grunge culture of the 1990’s through his design of the first issue of the music magazine, Raygun which was published November of 1992. Grunge itself, has its roots in the new music that was emerging as America entered the 90’s. Much of the music shows a disenchantment with society and a sense of entrapment. In 1992, music critic Simon Reynolds said about teenagers in the 90’s, “…there’s a feeling of burnout in the culture at large. Kids are depressed about the future.” By the early 1990's a majority of young adults found the pop music of the time had become too dull and boring. Due to this fact teens turned to a more alternative sound. They found this sound to be produced by college radio and small time record label companies. (Benner). By the start of the 90’s grunge was not only moving to new areas but also began making their own music. Grunge musicians rejected expensive, highly staged performances; most would not use pyrotechnics or other complicated lighting and visual effects during their shows. Grunge ironically arose from a complete rejection of culture (Berman). Carson's style of typography experimentation influenced the development of the deconstructed style of design and a whole new era of designers. The experiments by Carson and other Ray Gun designers were chaotic, abstract and distinctive, but sometimes illegible. The magazine's radical subject...

Words: 948 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Mla Guidlines

...Baker University School of Professional & Graduate Studies MLA Style Guide 8001 College Blvd, Suite 100, Overland Park, KS 66210 913.491.4432 March 2010     Getting Started        Introduction • Grab his or her attention in the first paragraph. Thesis • Your paper “proves” a thesis, a one or two sentence statement of your central idea. The thesis is usually placed at the end of the first paragraph, immediately after you introduce the topic. Although the thesis appears early in the paper, it is usually written late in the writing process, after you form your ideas and gather your supporting evidence. • Body • The body of your paper contains the evidence (specific examples and application) to support your thesis. • State viewpoints that oppose yours as effectively as you state your own. Remember HEAP--Honest Evaluation of Alternate Positions. Conclusion • The conclusion is the last chance the writer has to connect with the reader. A conclusion summarizes the paper’s main points with a sense of closure and completeness. • Summarize and/or conclude your paper in a way that helps the reader evaluate whether or not you did what you said you would do. Do not introduce any new material. Include a “killer” statement in the conclusion that leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind that you prove your thesis. Summarize the main ideas of the specific thesis and apply the main ideas of the body to the “bigger picture.” Help the reader by demonstrating to her...

Words: 2589 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Invisible Cloak

...Abstract Invisibility has long been employed in works of science fiction and fantasy, from “cloaking devices” on spaceships in the various Star Trek series to Harry Potter’s magic cloak. But physicists and engineers are beginning to think they can actually make devices with the help of these materials. To achieve the feat of “cloaking” an object, they have developed two kind of materials that being used for invisibility, what are known as metamaterials, some of which can bend electromagnetic radiation, such as light and thermal and also optical lens, that able to bend the incoming light ray from in order to around an object, giving the appearance that it is not there at all.   Introduction Definitions and Background The desire to make objects or people invisible has a long history: to this end, many different devices have been imagined. However, it is only in relatively modern times that these plans have begun to move from fiction to reality. The recent development of metamaterials and the new design of optical lens have made accessible and opened up new possibilities for invisibility, the most promising of which are described in this article. To be invisible in the conventional sense is to be undetectable to electromagnetic radiation within a given frequency range; light must not be scattered or absorbed. An immediate and unfortunate consequence of this requirement is that an invisible person must also necessarily be blind. In many applications, partial...

Words: 1399 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Relationship Between Television Advertisements and the Programs That They Show

...discuss how television and advertisements viewed during programs have the same nature. This essay will make it obvious that advertising is meant to go together with the programs that are being seen at the time. This is most effective when it is in a similar subject as the television programs that are being watched like sports themed commercials during major sporting events and other commercials written and produced for those types of television shows. Sports events are probably the most the common type of programs that bring in television commercials that are designed for the type of program. Often in American football there are beer commercials and advertisements for other products that either use sports players – in this example football stars are saying that they are good or advertisements that have football content. These commercials are usually made to get men who watch these sports events to buy their goods. They are often between twenty and thirty years old as these are the people who the main ones who are watching the sport. Sports shows are not the only types of programs that encourage companies to sell their goods specifically for the type of television show. Another common way that advertisers try to get their ads to their buyers is by playing them on channels or during certain programs that they expect the people who will buy their goods to be watching. For example many commercials for electronics and computers come on the television in the...

Words: 1221 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Nbcvafdg

...------------------------------------------------- Top of Form | | Bottom of Form * * * Charles Arthur * The Guardian, Wednesday 16 June 2010 15.30 EDT * Jump to comments (99) Why Minority Report was spot on It's only eight years since Steven Spielberg's Minority Report amazed audiences with its futuristic technology. But now science is fast catching up Tom Cruise as John Anderton in Minority Report - an early adopter of gesture-based computing. Photograph: 20th Century Fox The launch of Microsoft's new Kinect games system, which allows players to run, jump, punch and shoot without having to wear strange clothing or hold any kind of controller, has got technology and cinema buffs alike thinking of Tom Cruise again. Specifically, the moment in the film Minority Report when Cruise, playing police chief John Anderton, tries to figure out film footage and computer data by waving his hands around in mid-air to manipulate it: turning it, shrinking it, pushing it aside, revolving it. Give it time: in a few years, we'll more than likely be controlling our computers in a similar way. 1. Minority Report 2. Production year: 2002 3. Country: USA 4. Cert (UK): 12 5. Runtime: 145 mins 6. Directors: Steven Spielberg 7. Cast: Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow, Samantha Morton, Tom Cruise 8. More on this film When Minority Report came out in the summer of 2002 – the iPod was less than a year old and the iPhone and iPad...

Words: 1470 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Pop Culture Analysis

...There is nothing like reading a good book or watching a great movie for a little escapism and entertainment. With all of the television channels out there and access to the internet, you can watch just about anything you want at any time. In Unit 2, you talked about the science involved with technology, but in this Assignment, you are going to turn the tables and delve into how the media portrays science. How does a pop culture portrayal of science and scientists impact the average person’s view of what science is and how research is conducted? Can what is presented by the media affect how the general populace views a particular research field? What might the long-term impacts of such a depiction be? These are just a few questions that you...

Words: 1855 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Science for Everyday Life

...Julia DeWitt SC250-05: Science for Everyday Life Unit 9 Assignment August 05, 2014 When I hear the word “scientist” there are multiple things that run through my thoughts. I picture someone in a lab coat trying to discover a cure to a disease like cancer or the next plague that comes along. There is this image of dry ice coming out of test tubes and beakers surrounding them. Maybe even a bunch of stressed out yuppie looking guys who had way too much coffee, desperately trying to find the vaccine to stop the zombie apocalypse. I also picture Beaker from the Muppet show. He did a wonderful job forming an image of what a scientist probably was to me as a child. He was insecure and he made a mess. My cousin is a scientist so then there is an image of this very stern but sarcastic guy testing and testing and retesting. That image sounds so boring but I’m grateful there are brilliant minds like him out there. Scientist come in many different forms. They study and discover many different things. Over time there have been many types of scientist and they weren’t all wearing lab coats. Leonardo da Vinci was one I found interesting due to my love of art. He combined art and science in his sketches. He has amazing futuristic designs and even envisioned flight. Sadly he was a chronic procrastinator and had frequent disasters with his experiments of new techniques (Leonadoda-Vinci). Galileo Galilei was an Italian scientist who developed the telescopes and started to observe...

Words: 1591 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Future of Health Care Technology

...Abstract President John F. Kennedy, during an address on June 25, 1963 in the assembly hall at Paulskirche in Frankfurt, Germany said: "For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." Health care technology has come a long way from the past, the present, and is definitely moving on into the future. It seems that only yesterday many of our parents were watching the "Six million dollar man" and "Bionic Woman" on television and "Robocop" on the big screen with all this innovative medical technology leaving them in total awe. For the younger generation there is the futuristic equipment used by Dr. "Bones" McCoy in the Star Trek TV series and movies. Little did those who watched the films and TV shows then, know that all of these "ahead of its time paraphernalia" would soon become part of their everyday lives. Future of Health Care Technology Advancement in health care technology is moving at a very fast pace in the world today and there are no signs that in the future it would slow down. Computers have provided technological advancements in every field, but in the field of medicine, this advancement has been very noticeable. Many have been witness to the numerous changes in health care technology in the last decades. Patients have noticed how with special software now available used to create and maintain paperless medical records has allowed for the immediate access...

Words: 1392 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Ecumenopolis- the Future of Cities

...Subject Code: APBL20045 | Subject Name: City Future | Student ID Number: 563013 | Student Name: Joel Madeira | Assignment Name or Number: Final essay | With reference to at least one work of fiction, critically discuss how science and technology feature in utopian or dystopian planning of future cities. The city of the future needs to change. With the population increasing at a rapid pace, more and more people favor to live in urbanized area. The result of the urban population explosion means that there is a need to change the physical dimension or space in cities, in order to cope with such a large amount of people. Cities will be dramatically restricted with the aid of science fiction and technology. This paper investigates how Ecumenopolis, the science fiction concept of city layout could be implanted or influence the future of cities, followed by how technology such as: transportation and telecommunication, could help satisfy social needs, which may again reshape the structure of cities in the future, finally by using examples from science fiction theme movies and novels to illustrate how humans could reshape their future cities and whether these advanced innovations would lead to a utopian or dystopian society. The most crucial element that cities of the future would face is in relation to the increasing population. It is unavoidable that for the next few decades, global population growth will escalate intensely. According to Vidal (2012), by 2050, 7 billion of...

Words: 3482 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Maketing

...Abstract Purpose – The aim of the paper is to discuss a possible extension of narrative analysis to a new medium of expression of consumer behaviour, specifically YouTube. Design/methodology/approach – Marketing and consumer behaviour studies often apply narrative analysis to understand consumption. The consumer is a source of introspective narratives that are studied by scholars. However, consumption has a narrative nature in itself and consumers are also storytellers. YouTube is a new context in which subjects tell stories to an audience through self-made videos and re-edited TV programs. After defining the pros and cons of different approaches to the study of YouTube, narrative analysis is presented as a possible means of understanding YouTube. Findings – Some preliminary evidence is presented by discussing several YouTube videos. These indicate that YouTube content can be better understood as stories, rather than example of other approaches, such as visual analysis, media studies, videography, and others. Research limitations/implications – From the analysis conducted, preliminary managerial implications can be drawn. It seems unlikely that normal TV broadcasters will be substituted by YouTube videos. For the most part, YouTube content draws its sense and shared meaning from the major TV shows and series. The discursive nature of YouTube is also an indication of how to deal with this new medium as a company or researcher. Originality/value – The paper is an attempt to open up new...

Words: 7435 - Pages: 30