Data blinking

[Rom's Sehlat]

Did Data blink at the beginning of TNG? At what point did he start "officially" blinking? I remember in one episode he says he has written a subroutine that will [pseudo]randomly activate his eyelids to simulate blinking. I guess the actor wanted a break!

 

[BlobVanDam]

If he kept himself from blinking, I never actually noticed his efforts! Since Data aspired to be human, it makes sense that he'd mimic something so simple as blinking to look a bit more real to the crew, regardless of whether it has any function to him.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

He made a point of explaining the process in Inheritance, when they figure out his "mother" is an android, but that was S7.

Not sure I remember noticing anything about his blinking in the entire run.

 

[Tom Riley]

Data blinked like a regular person throughout the whole run of the series. In Inheritance he explains that he *has* a subroutine that mimics random human eyelid movement and recognized that his "mother" was using the same subroutine as him.

 

[Subcommander R.]

Its one of those things I've never noticed. I'm sure he's slipped and let out a contraction or two, but I've never caught those either.

 

[heavylids]

It was probably something that wasn't addressed early on. I forget the episode, but when Bashir appears on the Enterprise and states that Data's hair grows and he has a pulse. Other than that, I don't think either of those two things were mentioned. Next time I watch the first couple seasons I'll try to see if Data does indeed blink. But what was already stated earlier, Data mentions having a subroutine that mimics human blinking.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Data also showed Lal how to in "The Offspring".