Why would an EMH be the first holographic crewmember?

[at Quark's]

This morning, I was rewatching part of the pilot 'Caretaker'.

In this episode, it seems that Starfleet technology and design philosophy is just beginning to augment and support the crew with artificially intelligent holograms, which is a great idea. The EMH seems to be the first step in that development.

But then it hit me: why start this process with an EMH? Why not with, say, an EEH (emergency engineering hologram)? Instead of still having to use conventional technology like tricorders like the EMH has to, in order to scan humans, such a hologram could be tied in immediately with the ship's systems, being able to react to critical failures like impending warp core breaches far quicker than any human could, and with a far completer array of information about the status of ship's systems at hand than any crewmember could hope to gain in a short time.

Also, a doctor is about as much a 'people' profession as you're going to get-- even if only to understand some of the crew's reaction when under extreme stress or when injured. (This is evidenced by the fact that the EMH doesn't even consider himself a doctor at first, just a short-term replacement). A hologram in Engineering wouldn't need al that, but could be geared to pure efficiency instead. Hence, I'd expect it considerably more difficult to design a good EMH than a good EEH .

So, of all options, why did Zimmerman/Starfleet start with an EMH and not something else? I could understand that precisely because of that challenge, they chose to try it, but even then, they could -and perhaps should- have started with something easier?

So, why didn't they? Or did they, and is it just never shown onscreen ?

 

[hux]

I think they tried to suggest it was due to it's being a prototype and the immense amount of power required to use the EMH so a small sick bay could include an extra pair of hands

Not sure I buy that though. It would make sense to have them in other areas of the ship.

I never understood why we didn't see hologram crew in DS9. Why no EMH on the Defiant? Apparently they were new technology that Starfleet were using everywhere (yet we didn't see them). We know the EMH holograms were constantly being upgraded (the mark 2 mocks the EMH) and Zimmerman mentions further upgrades.......so where are they?...why don't we see more of them?

By the end of Voyager, it's hinted that holograms will become full equal citizens so I doubt they'll be able to use them as tools on ships anymore.......but lots of crew members maybe

 

[Count]

I can understand why they didn't have an EMH on DS9 for production reasons (ie: series confusion for audiences) but from a pure technical standpoint it makes more sense. Being a small ship with a minimal crew and so limited space, that is exactly the reason why the EMH was made.

As for why medical first, well the power reason makes sense, smaller space such as sickbay means less power needed, but you also need to consider the medical field is one of the most complicated and every changing fields in existence. Nothing changes day-to-day as much as medicine, even physics and engineering use relatively stagnant principles, but in medicine, new approaches are formed every day, so the average medical doctor no matter how skilled, will always end up out of date or missing something because they're only human.

 

[MacLeod]

Having an extra Doctor does make sense, the ship responds to a medical emergency it might need another Doctor, as for flight ops it seems as if many if not most of the crew are trained to fly, we witnessed Troi do it on a couple of occasions and even Picard did in TNG.

 

[Melakon]

But then it hit me: why start this process with an EMH? Why not with, say, an EEH (emergency engineering hologram)?

Since holograms are always described as photons and force fields, the lack of an EEH might be due to how various types of radiation and warp fields in an engine room environment can adversely effect optimal hologram operation.

And "Revulsion" gives us a type of EEH who's a psycho.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

But then it hit me: why start this process with an EMH? Why not with, say, an EEH (emergency engineering hologram)?

Since holograms are always described as photons and force fields, the lack of an EEH might be due to how various types of radiation and warp fields in an engine room environment can adversely effect optimal hologram operation.

And "Revulsion" gives us a type of EEH who's a psycho.

That was my first thought as well: an engineering hologram might be useless in the very situations it would be needed. Beyond that, would an engineer need to be interactive in the same manner as a physicians? Assuming an artificial intelligence could analyze and recommend a solution to an engineering problem, it would not need a holographic component to carry out repairs.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I think having an EMH is more important than any other type of hologram. The crew is knowledgable enough to take on other duties (like engineering) if need be. But not everyone knows medicine. If something happened and the crew became deathly ill or severely injured, they would need a doctor immediately.

 

[Richard Baker]

I like the idea of having holographic security personnel- they do not even have to follow a human form. Something like an armored spider with attached weapons that could walk along the walls or ceilings if needed.
In 'Renaissance Man' you get to see how just difficult the EMH can be to capture or prevent and that was with no specialized training or enhancements.

 

[at Quark's]

Since holograms are always described as photons and force fields, the lack of an EEH might be due to how various types of radiation and warp fields in an engine room environment can adversely effect optimal hologram operation.

Yes, that thought had come up in my mind, too. However, the (admittedly few) times the docter is in the engine room, there seem to be no adverse effects on him in general. Though of course his 29th century emitter could be superior to anything the 24th century has to offer in that respect.

Moreover, I didn't mean an EEH specifically, that was just an example of the uses I coud see for emergency holographic systems. My point was that there would be a number of positions where holograms could be quite useful and for which it would presumably be considerably easier to program a hologram for, instead of starting with a doctor/surgeon, who has to have quite an intricate skill set on a number of terrains after all. Someone already mentioned security personnel as an example.

Assuming an artificial intelligence could analyze and recommend a solution to an engineering problem, it would not need a holographic component to carry out repairs.

That could be true, but througout the entire series we see human crew conduct manual repairs and maintenance as well. In that case that would be equally unnecessary.

The crew is knowledgable enough to take on other duties (like engineering) if need be. But not everyone knows medicine. If something happened and the crew became deathly ill or severely injured, they would need a doctor immediately.

That's a good point as well. However, I'm not debating the use of an EMH backup system, just that I don't think it would be very logical for Starfleet to try to build a sophisticated surgeon/doctor EMH system from scratch without (seemingly) much prior field experience using "simpler" emergency holographic backup systems for a few years or so.

And let's face it, we are told the EMH mark 1 program was a failure (they're all mining dilithium now), with the exception of our Voyager Doctor.

 

[Guy Gardener]

AI goes insane and murders crew all the time.

If the EMH works perfectly, it's still a miracle if someone "has" to use it.

AI can't go insane and murder crew if it's never turned on.

 

[kirkfan]

But then it hit me: why start this process with an EMH? Why not with, say, an EEH (emergency engineering hologram)?

Since holograms are always described as photons and force fields, the lack of an EEH might be due to how various types of radiation and warp fields in an engine room environment can adversely effect optimal hologram operation.

And "Revulsion" gives us a type of EEH who's a psycho.

And unlike voyager they had emitters everywhere.

 

[kirkfan]

AI goes insane and murders crew all the time.

If the EMH works perfectly, it's still a miracle is someone "has" to use it.

AI can't go insane and murder crew if it's never turned on.

You can say the same about a power-saw. It can't cut your fingers off if you never use it.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yes, I can.

 

[kirkfan]

Yes, I can.

Obama?

 

[Taelon]

I like the idea of having holographic security personnel- they do not even have to follow a human form. Something like an armored spider with attached weapons that could walk along the walls or ceilings if needed.
In 'Renaissance Man' you get to see how just difficult the EMH can be to capture or prevent and that was with no specialized training or enhancements.

Instead of a spider, why not just a wall?

A sentient holographic forcefield?

 

[hux]

Instead of a spider, why not just a wall?

A sentient holographic forcefield?

Or a line of holographic Hulks (sans conveniently expanding trousers) just a wall of giant green penises coming towards the enemy

The options are limitless

It's almost as if Starfleet didn't anticipate any of this

 

[Guy Gardener]

It cheapens the genuineness of Glory Holes real people sustain the effort to staff.

 

[kirkfan]

Ever wonder how the EMH even manages to stay in place when he's fit to the mobile emitter? Since he has no mass, the slightest wind should blow him away.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Wind can't blow light.

The force of the hologram projectors projecting is equal to normal atmospheric behaviour.

Joe should be able to rend steel in his bare hands, and it takes a great deal of patience and math for him to not to do that.

 

[Taelon]

How much does the mobile emitter weigh? Anyone should be able to lift the EMH with a single hand.