Voice of a ships Computer

[Crewman47]

This is something I just thought of just now but where does the sound come from whenever the Computer speaks? Is it concentrated to individual consoles, work stations and wall terminals or is it transmitted through a Comm badge?

Trying to recall but I've never seen anything on a wall or a ceiling (of what shots we ever get to see of them) that indicate any speaker grill present (assuming of course they use them) and using the Comm badge may sound like the best answer but what about civilians who don't have one.

It's like the sound just magically appears from nowhere.

 

[Cid Highwind]

In speakers, sound is generated by a moving membrane which, in turn, moves the encompassing air.

Add forcefield and/or tractor beam magic to replace the membrane as the "air movement generator", and can, very literally, create sound out of thin air.

 

[Myasishchev]

I always figured it was hooked up to the (subdermal?) earphones they seem to have for the universal translator to work.

 

[Praetor]

I think I always presumed it to come from their communicator badges, routed through the comm system.

In retrospect, I don't put too much faith in that.

 

[Ronald Held]

The comm badges work only for the TNG-Voy era

 

[Mr. B]

I don't think this is discussed on screen. The TNG tech manual (page 33) says the LCARS panels themselves have audio functions.

Also incorporated into this later is a transducer matrix that provides tactile and auditory feedback to the operator, indicating that a particular control surface address has been activated.

Current 21st century technology allows for small wafer thin speakers as well as highly directional sound that can only be heard in very small, specific locations so this isn't particularly unrealistic.

 

[JTKirk311]

In the TOS era, I'm pretty sure they came from panel speakers or ceiling speakers. In fact I seem to remember in Wrath of Khan, that when the bridge crew was listening to a transmission at one point, the camera focused on the ceiling center piece. (was that during the Kobiayshi Maru scenerio at the beginning?) During the later TNG era, the force field idea making the sound from the mid air works for me, or it could still be ceiling speakers out of camera sight.

 

[lennier1]

Always nice to see fact catch up to fiction: article

 

[GSchnitzer]

Well, it's not the voice of the ship's computer, but in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," in the teaser, just as we hear Dr. Roger Korby's voice for the first time confirming he is alive after all these years, the camera pans left off of Lt. Uhura and dramatically zooms in on the little light blue intercom speaker grille-thing on her communications console. Evidently, the voice of Roger Korby is emanating from that speaker. Presumably, the ship's computer voice also emanates from these small speakers.

 

[Ronald Held]

That is what I would think for the 23d century ships. When did in the 24th century did combadges become used?

 

[sbk1234]

Well, it's not the voice of the ship's computer, but in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," in the teaser, just as we hear Dr. Roger Korby's voice for the first time confirming he is alive after all these years, the camera pans left off of Lt. Uhura and dramatically zooms in on the little light blue intercom speaker grille-thing on her communications console. Evidently, the voice of Roger Korby is emanating from that speaker. Presumably, the ship's computer voice also emanates from these small speakers.

Likewise, in TWOK, during the Kobayashi Maru, they focus on that ceiling thing when they are hearing the distress call. I always assumed that was a speaker. I'd think there are speakers all over the place on those ships.

 

[Falconfire]

Ent-TOS-TOS Movie era has clear speakers on computer panels, overheads, and devices that both had the computer speak and was used for intercom (though with ENT it only happens once, in In a Mirror Darkly on the Evil NX-01 as the computer never speaks any other time on the show).

 

[gwud]

This is a good question, I've never thought about this before but I kind of assumed that speakers were built into the ceiling panels or the wall panels with the red alert/directional lights.

It wouldn't make sense for the computer to come through the comm badge as not everyone has them, plus on screen people tend to look to the ceiling when calling someone, no down to the comm badge as you would expect.

 

[Ziz]

Laptops have speakers in them that are not much bigger than a quarter and sound comes out of them just fine. I don't think it's unreasonable to guess that Starfleet can integrate tiny speakers just below the surface of the touch panels and control surfaces.

 

[Timo]

...Or, as already suggested, to generate sound out of thin air.

Indeed, sound generated by directly vibrating air without the help of a loudspeaker would nicely meet the criterion of people looking up when hearing the sound. That is, Starfleet would probably wish to generate the sound at a central spot just above head level for best possible reach to the farthest corners of a crowded space.

That would be a 24th century or late 23rd century technology, not a mid-23rd one, apparently, considering the prominent grilleworks of TOS, TAS and (to a lesser degree) ENT. But it is a technology that must exist in the 24th century, or else holodecks wouldn't be plausible.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[lennier1]

Because they´re often looking up out of reflex I always assumed some of the ceiling/wall panels had some resonating characteristics.

 

[suneel44]

Voice Signal, the provider of mobile speech recognition solutions, announced today that the Samsung SCH-i519 Mobile Intelligent Terminal is shipping with Voice Signal's Embedded Linux Voice-Activated Phonebook (VAP) software.

The VAP software automatically voice-activates all the names in the user's phonebook, letting the user dial or look up information by saying the name, with no need to "train" the name beforehand. Users can also look up any contact by voice. Designed for use in China, the software recognizes speakers of English and Mandarin Chinese, and supports recognition of both English and Chinese names and commands.

The i519 is the first embedded Linux device running Voice Signal's VAP application. In addition to VAP functionality, Voice Signal's software also lets users launch any installed application by voice. With simple commands, such as "Open Browser" or "Open Instant Messenger," users have instant access to the applications on their device. Voice Signal's dual language VAP application offers many user-friendly features such as a rich, dialogue-based user interface that allows users to dial the phone, launch applications, and look up contacts without using the stylus or touch screen. Users can also personalize their voice dialing experience to best fit their needs. Novice users can take advantage of Voice Signal's online help guides, and audio voice prompts, while advanced users can turn off the audio prompts and choice confirmation features for an ultra-fast experience. Voice Signal also offers users the option to train custom voice tags for names, providing the most flexible user experience possible.

 

[SicOne]

Actually, they're all hearing it telepathically out of the giant cloned Betazoid brain suspended in a nutrient fluid hanging in the center of each ship's computer core.

That's why all of the ships sound like Lwaxana Troi...

 

[JNG]

^Metroid crossover potential there.

 

[SicOne]

Or perhaps because Lwaxana talks so much, they just started running a tape recorder and at some point she has probably spoken every...single...word in the English language. Hence, they could program every word in the computer.