Object Details
- Playmates Toys, Inc.
- Paramount Pictures
- Description
- This is a toy replica of a medical sensing device used on the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The battery-powered replica flips open to reveal a light up viewscreen, buttons for diagnostic sounds, and an array of indicator lights. A small handheld “medical scanner” is stored in the top of the device, and a belt clip is included on the back. Manufacturer recommended for ages four and up.
- The following description is from the original packaging (not included in with the museum’s object):
- “Starfleet Materials Depot Inventory Item: Medical Tricorder. The tricorder is a standard-issue multi-purpose scientific tool used by landing parties and other diagnostic teams. Included in its features are sensors, computers and recording devices. Tricorders can link with starship-based computer systems to file analyses or access additional data. Custom versions are available for specialized teams and individuals, such as engineering and medical uses. The medical tricorder works in combination with a handheld scanner which allows the physician or other emergency medical technician to conduct an initial examination of a patient or other subject. The efficiency of medical tricorders may be limited by the availability of data on xenobiological life forms.”
- Like much in science fiction, the Star Trek Tricorder has inspired technological innovation. In 2011 the XPrize Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation announced a multi-million-dollar Tricorder XPrize. Although no team met the criteria for the full prize, in 2017 the top award went to the Final Frontier Medical Devices team for their DxtER system. The system (which is still in development in 2020) uses multiple non-invasive sensors to monitor body chemistry and vital signs and analyzes this data in order to diagnose disease.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Larry J. Kricka and Peter Wilding
- ca 1997
- copyright date
- 1997
- ID Number
- 2014.0247.37
- accession number
- 2014.0247
- catalog number
- 2014.0247.37
- Object Name
- toy, sensing device
- Physical Description
- plastic (overall material)
- metal (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 13 cm x 7.5 cm x 3.9 cm; 5 1/8 in x 2 15/16 in x 1 17/32 in
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1800982
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-bd84-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
