# Star Trek communicators: where does the sound come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360 "2003-12-11T14:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/21 "2003-12-13T01:25:44Z")
Damn, big brother **Cervaise** beat me to it. I’d have to agree that the crew of the _Enterprise_ looks up to talk into the combadge _so we can see their smiling faces._ Realism aside, what is the alternate camera angle? Riker, neck scrunched up, jowly flat overlapping one eye, lips mashed into an awkward position, cheekbone fused to his shoulder, mouths sweet nothings into a plastic brooch? Um, no. The cast looks much more dynamic, heroic, and active if they look up with firm jaw and steely gaze. Realistic? No. Tough. FISH ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/22 "2003-12-13T01:31:27Z")
Well, first of all, the pickups on some speakerphones aren’t omnidirectonal. If you don’t point your face at the speakerphone, the person on the other end can’t hear you. Secondly, “Angel One” was one of the earlier first-season episodes. The cast and tech crew did not yet know their subspace communicators from their black holes, yet, so to speak… ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/23 "2003-12-13T01:58:20Z")
The sound wouldn’t have to come from above - if it’s clear enough that you don’t need to point your head at the communicator, then I wouldn’t be surprised if the natural direction to look is up, simply because looking at someone cues that you’re talking to someone, and up is where there isn’t anyone, so cues that you’re talking to yourself, or someone not visible, etc. Down would work, but it might just look like you’re shy… I make it my hobby to explain away inconsistancies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/24 "2003-12-13T01:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > **I read within the last two or three years that some R&D lab or other is working on a cell-phone component that fits snugly over (or into, or something; don’t recall exactly) a user’s back molar tooth. The device can pick up your voice, of course, and its “speaker” works by transmitting vibrations directly into your skull so you hear the call but nobody around you does. Aside from the amusement of people talking to themselves without the cellular headset to distinguish them from the crazies, this would be ideal for those secure situations; everybody on a team can listen to a broadcast while outside observers perceive only silence.** This was actually an element in an early episode of the 1979-81 series _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_. Buck (Gil Gerard) has gone “undercover” (heh-heh) aboard the Draconian spaceship, ostensibly to nail Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensely). He instead knocks her out with some kind of taser and goes on a search-and-destroy mission. Along the way, he gets advice from Doctor Huer (Tim O’Conner) through a miniaturized communicator, apparantly injected into Buck’s cheek near his ear, and resembling a small pimple. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/25 "2003-12-13T03:15:16Z")
Even more interesting are those doors that seem to read your mind and only open up when you want to walk through them, but not when you walk _by_ them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/26 "2003-12-13T03:25:17Z")
_Please enjoy your trip through this door._ ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/27 "2003-12-13T04:34:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > **This was actually an element in an early episode of the 1979-81 series _Buck Rogers in the 25th Century_.** You will have to forgive me if I feel somewhat conflicted about whether I should shake your hand in congratulations for knowing this obscure tidbit or mock you mercilessly instead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/28 "2003-12-13T07:18:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*You will have to forgive me if I feel somewhat conflicted about whether I should shake your hand in congratulations for knowing this obscure tidbit or mock you mercilessly instead. 😉 \*\* Budda-budda-budda- ah, shaddup. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360/29 "2003-12-13T20:47:16Z")
Another fascinating bit of technology is the Universal Translator. It automatically translates everyone’s conversations into the listener’s native language, allowing a guy from Cleveland, Ohio to communicate with a Klingon, a Ferengi, and a Romulan without any of them needing to know a common language. So, why do everyone’s lips move like they’re speaking English? 😉 I’m thinking that a conversation betwen Picard and the ambassador from Trell’Zhan IV should look a badly dubbed Godzilla movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-communicators-where-does-the-sound-come-from/218360.md?page=1)