Science fiction, especially Star Trek, predicted several wearable technologies that now exist. The hand-held flip communicator of the original series (1966-1969) resembles the clamshell mobile phone, the tap-to-talk combadge of The Next Generation (1987-1994) resembles hospital badges such as the Vocera Smartbadge, and the transparent aluminium of Star Trek IV (1986) has a real-world cousin in aluminium oxynitride (ALON) armour.
Key Takeaways
- The Star Trek communicator and combadge are the clearest cases of sci-fi wearables that now have real counterparts.
- Vocera, owned by Stryker since February 2022, sells the hands-free Vocera Smartbadge to hospitals, with an “OK Vocera” voice wake word and a panic button.
- Aluminium oxynitride (ALON) is a real transparent ceramic used for bullet-resistant windows; the US Air Force began testing it in 2005.
- The transporter remains fiction: quantum teleportation moves information about a particle’s state, not matter.
Tune into any old episode of Star Trek (either the original or the ‘Next Gen’), and you’ll see studio props that look surprisingly familiar. Is that…a tablet? A clam shell mobile phone? Or is it a communicator that allows ‘Scotty’ to start beaming people up? The truth is that many of our most iconic and familiar designs may well have been inspired by the imagination not of the late Steve Jobs, but from the fertile mind of Gene Roddenberry and his crew of prop designers and special effect experts.
How Did Sci-Fi Movies Predict Wearable Tech?
The Star Trek Effect
It’s known as the ‘Star Trek effect’. The ideas and concepts presented in the show have often anticipated real advances in technology, from transparent armour materials through to mobile communicators.
Remember: when these programmes were made, home computers were still regarded as a remote and fanciful dream, let alone tablets you could link to a world-wide network of information and databases. Does all that sound familiar? Here’s some of the most influential wearable tech that’s turned science fiction into science fact:
Communicators
We’ve already mentioned the remarkable similarity between Captain Kirk’s communicator and the clam-shell style mobile phone. But in the later ‘Next Generation’ series, communicators were the badge insignia worn on the uniform and activated by a tap of the finger. Today, we have similar technology – although it can’t quite stretch between an orbiting ship and the planet’s surface just yet. Vocera Communications developed the B2000 badge, an early hands-free model that linked people onto a network operating within a building using software and a wireless LAN connection. The B2000 was described at the time as weighing less than two ounces and being designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria, so it’s ideal for use in a medical environment.
Another company that developed wearable communicators is Orion Labs, based in San Francisco, California. Its product, the Onyx, unveiled in November 2014, is a clip-on communication badge that lets a group of people speak to one another with the press of a button – an upgraded walkie-talkie. There’s no limit to how many people can join an Onyx call, and it pairs with an iPhone or Android smartphone, sending voice over Wi-Fi or the phone’s data network. Launch coverage described the Onyx as just 2.36 inches in diameter and under 2 ounces, light enough to clip onto clothing. Orion Labs later shifted its focus to an enterprise voice platform, so check current availability before looking for one.
Wearable tech in the cosmic battlefield – transparent aluminium armour
In the fourth Star Trek movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), engineer Scotty traded the formula for transparent aluminium for the plexiglass needed to build a whale tank (don’t ask. It involves transporting humpback whales into the future…). Today, we have a material called aluminium oxynitride, also commonly referred to as ALON or aluminium armour. ALON starts as a ceramic powder that is shaped and then densified by high-temperature heat treatment into a transparent crystalline ceramic. Once ground and polished to transparency, it is strong enough to stop bullets: according to test data summarized in the Wikipedia entry on aluminium oxynitride, a 1.6-inch (41 mm) ALON plate can stop .50 BMG armour-piercing rounds that penetrate 3.7 inches (94 mm) of conventional glass laminate, at less than half the weight. Polishing is often said to strengthen moulded ALON further, a claim this article could not independently confirm. The US Air Force began testing ALON-based armour in 2005, and the material is marketed for transparent armour, windows and domes.
Coming soon to a tech shop near you…
There are still a few things that we’ve yet to see materialise. One is, of course, the transporter. Scientists have achieved quantum teleportation, first demonstrated in 1997 and since reported over 1,400 km using the Micius satellite launched by China, but it transfers only the quantum state of a particle, not the particle itself or any matter, so that’s a (very small) start. Organic electronics and flexible screen technology from companies such as FlexEnable, a Cambridge, UK firm that as of October 2026 develops organic thin-film transistors for flexible ePaper displays and liquid crystal optics for AR and AI glasses, continue to drive progress in new wearable technology.
Some of it has arrived already — the GAMMA graphene jacket is wearable armour you can actually buy.
Sci-Fi Wearables and Their Real-World Counterparts
The table below compares the best-known Star Trek devices with the closest real technology, as of October 2026.
| Sci-fi device | First seen | Closest real counterpart | How close is it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flip-open communicator | Star Trek original series (NBC, 1966-1969) | Clamshell mobile phones; Bluetooth replicas such as The Wand Company’s 2016 communicator that makes and receives phone calls | Close in form; phones now exceed it in features but not in range |
| Tap-to-talk combadge | Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) | Vocera Smartbadge (Stryker); Fametek’s 2016 Bluetooth ComBadge replica | Close for in-building voice calls; no ship-to-planet range and no universal translator |
| Transparent aluminium | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) | Aluminium oxynitride (ALON) transparent ceramic | Real, bullet-resistant and transparent, but a ceramic rather than a metal |
| Transporter | Star Trek original series | Quantum teleportation experiments | Far off: only quantum information is transferred, never matter |
What Is the Vocera Smartbadge?
The Vocera Smartbadge is a hands-free wearable communication badge for hospital staff, sold by Stryker after the company completed its acquisition of Vocera Communications on February 23, 2022. Stryker put the total cost of the deal at about $3.1 billion including the repayment of convertible notes.
According to Stryker’s product page, the Smartbadge weighs 89 g, measures 100 x 52 x 17 mm and carries IP54 ingress protection. It has a 2.4-inch touchscreen, a swappable battery rated for 4 hours of active use and 40 hours of standby, USB-C charging and Bluetooth. Staff wake it by saying “OK Vocera”, then place calls, send secure messages and receive alerts with patient context. A dedicated panic button opens a channel to a response team, a feature Stryker also markets to hotels and campus safety teams.
That is the nearest thing yet to the Next Generation combadge: a device worn on the chest that connects people by voice without a phone in hand. Wearables are now common in many workplaces; see how smart wearables are making job sites safer.
Is Transparent Aluminium Real?
Transparent aluminium in the Star Trek sense, a see-through metal, is not real, but aluminium oxynitride comes close in spirit. ALON is a transparent ceramic of aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen with a cubic spinel structure. It is marketed under the ALON name by Surmet Corporation and is used for transparent armour, infrared windows, domes and other optical parts. It can withstand about 2,100 °C in inert atmospheres.
Why Is Teleportation Still Science Fiction?
Quantum teleportation is a real physics technique, but it is not a transporter. Two research groups, including Anton Zeilinger’s, first demonstrated it in 1997, and Jian-Wei Pan’s team later reported teleportation over 1,400 km using the Micius satellite. In every case, the experiment transfers the quantum state of a particle; no matter or energy travels, so beaming a person anywhere remains fiction.
What Comes Next for Wearable Tech?
The next wave of sci-fi-style wearables is centred on glasses. FlexEnable, based on the Cambridge Science Park in the UK, describes its current work as liquid crystal optics such as pixelated dimmers and tunable lenses for AR and AI glasses, alongside organic transistors for flexible ePaper displays. Immersive headsets follow a similar path from fiction to fact; this guide explains what virtual reality is, and this one covers the impact of wearable gadgets on the entertainment industry.
For fans who want the fiction rather than the hardware, there is also a roundup of the best Star Trek board games, and an overview of Android Wear and modern wearable technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What technology did Star Trek predict?
Star Trek anticipated the clamshell mobile phone with its flip communicator, tablet-style devices, wearable voice badges like today’s hospital combadges, and transparent armour similar to aluminium oxynitride. The transporter remains fiction.
What is the Star Trek effect?
The Star Trek effect is the popular name for the idea that science fiction shapes real invention, because engineers and designers who grew up with the show set out to build its gadgets.
Is there a real Star Trek combadge?
Yes, in two forms. Fametek released a Bluetooth ComBadge replica in December 2016, and hospitals use working badges such as the Vocera Smartbadge, which wakes on “OK Vocera” and connects staff by voice.
What movie had transparent aluminium?
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, released in North America on November 26, 1986, features Scotty trading the formula for transparent aluminium for the materials to build a tank for humpback whales.
Can people be teleported yet?
No. Quantum teleportation transfers only the quantum state of particles, not matter, so teleporting objects or people is still science fiction.
Justwebworld has published guides since 2012. How we write and update articles Report an error
