1) could uniforms keep phasers from inflicting harm? Like the Mandalorians?
2) in Deep Space Nine they had a serial killer who was targeting folks who had happy photos of their loved one in their quarters. (Season 7 Episode 13).
3) I thought, “what about high heels?” which made me wonder about the women’s clothing. They are sometimes more expressive, like Deanna Troi’s fancy outfit.
4) why is Will Riker always pulling his shirt down? Can that be fixed?
Well, obviously the uniforms provide some degree of protection against RF scanners trying to access the wearer’s personal database that is stored in the nanoweave SSDs embedded in the fabric, even though everything is encrypted strongly. That’s why Bones McCoy’s tricorder was so bulky. It had to store all the access keys for the crew so that he could collect all the health data stored in the suits. Otherwise, he can say nothing but “He’s dead, Jim.”
The original ST came out when I was a sophomore and we’d gather to watch it on our dorm common room on a small B&W TV. As we drank, we found it increasingly hilariously camp. No one knew then that we were witnessing the birth of a new religion.
Imagine the alternate applications of your size-shifting clothing idea. If my clothing could hug me a little tighter when I'm feeling depressed? Or loosen around the neck when I'm having a panic attack partially spurred by "oh my god why did I think I could wear a tie and speak to strangers at the same time?" If my clothes could assist in the maintenance of my mental health, without even needing my active input? Game changer.
Also, I can't tell you how often I don't see a text in a timely fashion because denim is thick and apparently I don't feel mild buzzing in my butt cheek. What if an important communication came through, and the hems around your wrists buzzed? (I wouldn't want the neck hem to buzz, that's for sure!) If our clothes have power-storage and output capabilities, then our clothing can talk to us in kind of cool ways.
Oh, and let's not ignore the fashion options of color-changing clothes. Everybody is their own boutique clothing designer in the future. Self-expression to the max!
"Oh Charles, I love the design you've come up with today. I'd love to borrow it some time."
"Sure, James, I'll transfer it to you." (And the two of you bump sleeves and now James can wear the pattern you designed.)
Being a long-term Trekkie myself, I just had to emit an understated, ladylike fangirl squee over this post! And I would LOVE to see a bunch of these features appear in my life! But I am a boring, law-abiding, generally well-intended citizen with no personal secrets, or even much of a sense of privacy. From a starting point in today's America, I would expect a generalized paranoid Big Brother reaction to some of them. And, even if these features do not themselves enable bigger and better petty criminality (leaving aside augmented supervillainy for the moment), because of generalized digital storage requirements (The Future of Data Centers), they could enable bigger and better identity theft and wormy little mental brain invasions of the social media variety. Because people often are not wise about the influences they allow into their lives, and many people--rather than valuing and seeking Deep Work--seek distraction. The Human Condition, man. It's everywhere. (CAVEAT: This is an off-the-top-of-my-head response, not a well-considered one, and reflects my personal anxieties of the moment, including the mental health of the troubled teenagers in my life.)
I, too, squeed a bit.
Couple of first reading thoughts:
1) could uniforms keep phasers from inflicting harm? Like the Mandalorians?
2) in Deep Space Nine they had a serial killer who was targeting folks who had happy photos of their loved one in their quarters. (Season 7 Episode 13).
3) I thought, “what about high heels?” which made me wonder about the women’s clothing. They are sometimes more expressive, like Deanna Troi’s fancy outfit.
4) why is Will Riker always pulling his shirt down? Can that be fixed?
This is brilliant.
Well, obviously the uniforms provide some degree of protection against RF scanners trying to access the wearer’s personal database that is stored in the nanoweave SSDs embedded in the fabric, even though everything is encrypted strongly. That’s why Bones McCoy’s tricorder was so bulky. It had to store all the access keys for the crew so that he could collect all the health data stored in the suits. Otherwise, he can say nothing but “He’s dead, Jim.”
The original ST came out when I was a sophomore and we’d gather to watch it on our dorm common room on a small B&W TV. As we drank, we found it increasingly hilariously camp. No one knew then that we were witnessing the birth of a new religion.
Imagine the alternate applications of your size-shifting clothing idea. If my clothing could hug me a little tighter when I'm feeling depressed? Or loosen around the neck when I'm having a panic attack partially spurred by "oh my god why did I think I could wear a tie and speak to strangers at the same time?" If my clothes could assist in the maintenance of my mental health, without even needing my active input? Game changer.
Also, I can't tell you how often I don't see a text in a timely fashion because denim is thick and apparently I don't feel mild buzzing in my butt cheek. What if an important communication came through, and the hems around your wrists buzzed? (I wouldn't want the neck hem to buzz, that's for sure!) If our clothes have power-storage and output capabilities, then our clothing can talk to us in kind of cool ways.
Oh, and let's not ignore the fashion options of color-changing clothes. Everybody is their own boutique clothing designer in the future. Self-expression to the max!
"Oh Charles, I love the design you've come up with today. I'd love to borrow it some time."
"Sure, James, I'll transfer it to you." (And the two of you bump sleeves and now James can wear the pattern you designed.)
Being a long-term Trekkie myself, I just had to emit an understated, ladylike fangirl squee over this post! And I would LOVE to see a bunch of these features appear in my life! But I am a boring, law-abiding, generally well-intended citizen with no personal secrets, or even much of a sense of privacy. From a starting point in today's America, I would expect a generalized paranoid Big Brother reaction to some of them. And, even if these features do not themselves enable bigger and better petty criminality (leaving aside augmented supervillainy for the moment), because of generalized digital storage requirements (The Future of Data Centers), they could enable bigger and better identity theft and wormy little mental brain invasions of the social media variety. Because people often are not wise about the influences they allow into their lives, and many people--rather than valuing and seeking Deep Work--seek distraction. The Human Condition, man. It's everywhere. (CAVEAT: This is an off-the-top-of-my-head response, not a well-considered one, and reflects my personal anxieties of the moment, including the mental health of the troubled teenagers in my life.)
And of course I forgot facial recognition for everything.