Improving Star Trek Uniforms with technology

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I'm posting this not to advertise this product, but because when I saw it, I was thinking about Starfleet uniforms. Imagine having a uniform that could become whatever you needed it to be on the fly just as this dress can change styles.

https://www.theundress.com/

EDIT: Darn. Forgot about this. https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/improving-star-trek-uniforms-with-technology.286881/ @Unicron can you merge these threads? (LOL "threads" and it's about clothing)

 

[uniderth]

Some strange new technology to make Trek uniforms better: pockets

Kirk era uniforms had pockets.

 

[Unicron]

Sure thing.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Thanks. But yeah, it'd be really neat to have a multipurpose fold-away uniform like that.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

Use Founder DNA to genetically engineer the perfect uniform.

 

[sojourner]

I'm posting this not to advertise this product, but because when I saw it, I was thinking about Starfleet uniforms. Imagine having a uniform that could become whatever you needed it to be on the fly just as this dress can change styles.

https://www.theundress.com/

EDIT: Darn. Forgot about this. https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/improving-star-trek-uniforms-with-technology.286881/ @Unicron can you merge these threads? (LOL "threads" and it's about clothing)

Did you watch the video? this "undress" doesn't change styles. It's just a sack that is loose enough to allow you to take off and put on clothes while wearing it. I could make one of these with a potato sack, some string and five minutes with a pair of scissors.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Fabric armor is usually either stabby/cutty resistant, or bullet resistant, not both. Maybe a multi-layer combination, but then again Starfleet doesn't exactly go against forces that use projectile handheld weapons anymore, does it? Besides, put enough force behind it and even the best fabric armor will be cut, and Klingons are pretty strong.

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Actually, you can have both Stab, Slash, and Bullet resistance.
Carbon NanoTube fiber based armor has existed for a while, it's a money issue really.
And protecting against physical projectiles flying at the body / shrapnel is also important.
And who's to say other aliens don't have bullets of their own.

 

[Deks]

The idea is sound and Trek humans should have had such advanced clothing.
Basically, they could have used a composite of quantum metamaterials that also have fully integrated communications, scanners (and a host of other systems) already in the clothing on a molecular level.

SF's technology is more than advanced for that kind of thing... so the uniform could be adaptive depending on the situation.
If it's sensors detect directed energy weapons, it adapts to that... and if it detects ranged or handheld weapons, it adapts to those.
With transluminal processing, you'd think these materials would effectively adapt on the spot - the change would literally take yoctoseconds, or less.

Also, the amount of things they could do to expand the tactical teams capabilities... such as with portable transporter buffers that can store variety of weapons and defensive technologies.

If you 'stretch' the technology across the entire uniform but is scaled down to a molecular level, its more than doable.
Plus the uniform could easily gather energy from the environment when needed. On away missions from movement, solar, wind (the elements themselves), etc.

The notion of metamaterials was not a new one when TNG aired... perhaps the technical advisors simply weren't aware of them.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

@Deks, I think the problem is that such uniforms have no drama to them. They'd make the heroes too OP. Normal hazardous conditions wouldn't be a concern, and in hostile territory, you'd have to invent anti-nanotech weapons to penetrate their uniform shields and armor. Plus, you would have nano-tech strength enhancement, built-in phasers and even flight capability. In other words, Captain Kirk's uniform would literally make him Superman, and imagine how that would go to William Shatner's head!

 

[Deks]

@Deks, I think the problem is that such uniforms have no drama to them. They'd make the heroes too OP. Normal hazardous conditions wouldn't be a concern, and in hostile territory, you'd have to invent anti-nanotech weapons to penetrate their uniform shields and armor. Plus, you would have nano-tech strength enhancement, built-in phasers and even flight capability. In other words, Captain Kirk's uniform would literally make him Superman, and imagine how that would go to William Shatner's head!

I literally never understood the argument that it would make the heroes 'too OP'.
A writer would be able to make the story work with that kind of technology in place. They would need more time to come up with a good one mind you, because they are too unaccustomed to thinking in a high tech setting. Also, most writers don't have a good sense of what real-life technology is capable of.. never mind what Trek technology would realistically be capable of hundreds of years into the future (from our time frame) and taking into account exponential advancements and returns.

People are too conservative in their 'projections' of the future.

Heck, we've seen the kind of butchery DS9 made out of use of technology... it ended up dumbing it down to ridiculous levels.
Ds9 wasn't the only offender... VOY and TNG did this as well.
Point being, writers simply didn't have the creative vision to make drama (and much of the technology) work properly in a highly advanced society without dumbing things down.

People I think have too many expectations of Trek to behave in a 'primitive' capacity, when they live in a setting that's anything but.
Heck, we live in in a highly advanced technological setting as is.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

@Deks, I'm not disagreeing, but it's not just an issue of the quality of the writing. Like it or not, people watching Star Trek have certain expectations, and the nanotech version of Starship Troopers powered armor (from the book, not the movie) is not one of them. What you're describing might work better in a completely new sci-fi franchise.

 

[Deks]

@Deks, I'm not disagreeing, but it's not just an issue of the quality of the writing. Like it or not, people watching Star Trek have certain expectations, and the nanotech version of Starship Troopers powered armor (from the book, not the movie) is not one of them. What you're describing might work better in a completely new sci-fi franchise.

Why?
Trek could make amazing use of such technology to have away teams do real time scientific experiments and breakthroughs in real time.
Show us proper exploration of new worlds and conducting scientific analysis on the spot. Make it interesting... Not just a throwaway line or brief token scene. Also, make it make some sense.

It's not about tactical capability alone since trek humans try to avoid conflict at all costs. It can still work nicely as a tool for science most of the time, and tactical situations if they arise (on average though, federation tech should be much more advanced than the ones used by Klingons, Romulans or even Cardassians due to the nature of how federation works (at least in the 24th century... Heck, even by the 23rd they'd be slightly ahead of others).

However, since the federation does share a lot of the scientific knowledge with others, it would equalize things for other interstellar powers

 

[Matthew Raymond]

I would seriously enjoy a fanfic example of this, but I'm not a broad target audience. Can you give an example that would be understood by a general demographic?