What's it really look like and what's it really do?

[ipirate65]

perhaps I obsess over odd things...

There are many pics of LCARS panels out there, and some are even identified as belonging to "engineering" or "science" or "ship status" or whatever.

But I've never seen anything saying what all the pretty lights are for... exactly.

Mostly I'm interested in the actual controls for piloting a starship. What exactly do the controls look like and how are they used? How do you go "up"? How do you go "down"? How do you go faster or slower? How do you actually target something with your weapons? Which pretty light actually fires the phasers? The photon torpedoes?

I've wondered about these kinds of things for years and it seems be almost a holy grail to me.

 

[sojourner]

Good luck with that.

 

[trevanian]

perhaps I obsess over odd things...

There are many pics of LCARS panels out there, and some are even identified as belonging to "engineering" or "science" or "ship status" or whatever.

But I've never seen anything saying what all the pretty lights are for... exactly.

Mostly I'm interested in the actual controls for piloting a starship. What exactly do the controls look like and how are they used? How do you go "up"? How do you go "down"? How do you go faster or slower? How do you actually target something with your weapons? Which pretty light actually fires the phasers? The photon torpedoes?

I've wondered about these kinds of things for years and it seems be almost a holy grail to me.

Look on eBay for the operator manual from ST Phase II, it is sold there a lot. Gives a nearly button specific breakdown for bridge instrumentation (before it was changed somewhat for TMP), as supplied for the actors so they wouldn't hit the wrong button.

 

[Mysterion]

^^^
You beat me to it, but i would agree that Lee Cole's work is the most sensible/practical layout for the bridge control panels I've ever seen.

 

[ipirate65]

thank you for the... two... helpful answers. sounds like that manual has exactly what I`m looking for

 

[sojourner]

But that pre-dates LCARS, so I'll say again, "good luck with that".

 

[Bruno]

Been a long time since I read it, but doesn't the TNG Tech Manual say something about the LCARS display being configurable by each user? So that the helm display for Ensign Timmy would be unique to his needs, and would be different from that used by Lt Commander Velma? That would suggest that there isn't any one definitive display (and ease stress on the actors...)

 

[sojourner]

Bingo! There is no way to know "which button does what" with LCARS.

 

[Mysterion]

thank you for the... two... helpful answers. sounds like that manual has exactly what I`m looking for

No prob.
Look here: http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/efm.php

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Been a long time since I read it, but doesn't the TNG Tech Manual say something about the LCARS display being configurable by each user? So that the helm display for Ensign Timmy would be unique to his needs, and would be different from that used by Lt Commander Velma? That would suggest that there isn't any one definitive display (and ease stress on the actors...)

Makes you wonder why Starfleet even bothers to train officers in starship operations, unless that training basically boils down to a six-hour seminar and a multiple choice test about how to reconfigure LCARS panels to do whatever it is they're supposed to do.

 

[trevanian]

So easy even a Counselor can do it!

 

[RegFan]

My theory is that all Starfleet officers have some kind of brain implants that allow them to see symbols in the LCARS panels (this may sounds implausible but it's no more implausible than the universal translator). That goes for all kinds of computer displays (and the universal translator takes care of the computer voice). Can you seriously expect an Andorian Starfleet officer to learn English?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

So easy even a Counselor can do it!

No wounder Counselor Troi holds a rank of Lieutenant Commander on the ship; the single most useless person on the entire bridge still manages to outrank Worf

 

[JarodRussell]

Well, unfortunately, they never seemed to put much more thought into it than "it looks good on screen". Which is sad because now LCARS got totally outdated by MS Surface and similar stuff. The computer table scene in James Bond - Quantum of Solace was way better than anything similar in Star Trek, and what's even better about that scene is that it actually works, unlike LCARS, which is just a bunch of colorful shapes without purpose.

 

[sojourner]

So easy even a Counselor can do it!

No wounder Counselor Troi holds a rank of Lieutenant Commander on the ship; the single most useless person on the entire bridge still manages to outrank Worf

And she manages to crash the ship the one time we see her given command.

 

[Search4]

Well, unfortunately, they never seemed to put much more thought into it than "it looks good on screen". Which is sad because now LCARS got totally outdated by MS Surface and similar stuff. The computer table scene in James Bond - Quantum of Solace was way better than anything similar in Star Trek, and what's even better about that scene is that it actually works, unlike LCARS, which is just a bunch of colorful shapes without purpose.

Lets remember this was a vast improvement over randomly colored buttons (TOS). Its not like they used a mouse and clicking! For 1987 this was pretty advanced. And i doubt that our touchscreens are the way things may be interfaced in 2300.

More advanced controls might be possible (helmet, read eye position, think "warp 5") but they did have to look good on screen.

 

[PorthosShadow]

I think that if technological development continues uninterupted (hold for laughs) then how humans interact with technology will look a lot different by the 23rd century. More than likely, it will be some kind of mind interface technology.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Be fair - Worf's main job on the Enterprise is to illustrate how powerful this week's adversary is by having them kick the crap out of the Klingon - androids, aliens, supposed children...

 

[Delta1]

So easy even a Counselor can do it!

No wounder Counselor Troi holds a rank of Lieutenant Commander on the ship; the single most useless person on the entire bridge still manages to outrank Worf

And she manages to crash the ship the one time we see her given command.

She wasn't in command, she was just sitting at a station that was offline.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

who is lee cole and what trek did he/she work on?