ST@R TREK ^t 50:

@utom^tic Doors

When an Enterprise crew member approached a door, it would automatically open.

Today, you can find that once
futuristic technology at any
corner store.
Before Star Trek, were used
to sliding doors in elevators.
Senior citizens will even
remember having human
elevator operators. It wasnt
until the 1950s that automatic
push button control systems
replaced manual controls in
elevators. (And then in the
1970s, electromechanical
controls were gradually
replaced with solid state
electronic controls.) But
sliding doors werent common
elsewhere even though they
had been invented before Star
Trek!
In 1954, Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented the sliding automatic door using a mat actuator. They founded a company, Horton
Automatics, that developed and sold the first automatic sliding door in America in 1960. With the advent of shopping malls, the
automatic sliding door would become ideal.
After the invention of the motion sensor, automatic sliding doors would
incorporate this technology for ease of implementation and better reliability.
Sliding doors havent caught on in domestic homes. I imagine the
convenience isnt worth the cost and potential hassle in breakdowns. I guess
sliding doors make more sense in stores where youre more likely to have
your hands full. Ive always thought that patio doors should be automatic for
convenience sake.
Sliding and automatic doors have eliminated one more situation for chivalry
as men no longer have to open doors for women.
The automatic sliding doors that we're familiar with from Star Trek are way
smarter than the automatic sliding doors that we're familiar with from real
life. In Star Trek, doors seem to know when characters want to go through
them, and they never open by accident when someone is just walking by.
Also, they manage to never be in the way when a character is running
towards them at full speed (you try this at the mall and see what happens).
Is it really too much to expect for automatic doors to have this sort of
intelligence? It's not like we're asking for a Transporter. Now robotics
researchers have (finally) made it happen.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31876/12-star-trek-gadgets-now-exist
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/10-star-trek-technologies.htm
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2014/06/24/8-star-trek-technologies/
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2015/02/27/leonard-nimoy-dead-spock-star-trek/
http://mashable.com/2013/10/11/star-trek-technology/#lSepK83ANEq0
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/slideshow/198968/top-10-real-life-star-trek-inventions/
http://www.space.com/9705-top-10-star-trek-technologies.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/07/02/star_trek_what_technology_is_possible.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/7-far-out-star-trek-technologies-became-reality-1831256
http://www.pcworld.com/article/164195/dummy_text.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/30568858/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/reality-check-trek-tech/#.VpKLF1JZ5-4
http://filmjunk.com/2009/01/21/treknobabble-50-top-10-star-trek-inventions-in-use-today/