41 teams vying to build 'Star Trek' tricorder

Published October 16, 2013 5:14am

In hopes of winning a $10-million prize, at least 41 teams from nine countries are in a race to build a tricorder to make real the fictional lightweight medical device in "Star Trek".

Dr. Erik Viirre, technical and medical director for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, said there was huge medical, scientific and technological interest in making the gadget.

"Teams have to be working diligently right now to be able to compete in the Qualifying Round and the Finals. In the winter of 2014, they will submit documentation of their proposed technologies, how they are going to measure vital signs, assess medical conditions, and wrap all the systems into a useable mobile platform," Viirre said in a recent newsletter addressed to Star Trek fans.

He added the modern-day tricorders have to be for the average consumer, and would not need science officer Spock or medical officer Leonard McCoy to operate.

Viirre said he sees companies joining forces to work on the project.

"We think that collaboration between corporations, universities and start-ups will be necessary to win the prize. All the requirements are technically feasible right now, but the wide range of capabilities necessary to win means very few, if any, entities will have everything on their own. Collaboration is a must," he said.

The competition started in 2012, following its announcement in 2011.

Viirre said there was "huge medical, scientific and technological interest" in the project, with world-renowned medical scientists, clinicians and engineers joining forces.

He cited as an example of this interest the formal announcement by the US Food and Drug Administration that they would provide support for the prize.

"We know that Trek fans are prevalent in organizations such as NASA, but medical and bioengineering schools are full of fans who wanted to bring Star Trek technology from the 23rd to the 21st century," he added.

Competition scoring

The competition will use a scoring system that sees how well the tricorders detect 15 health conditions with the consumer testers.

More importantly, it will see how easy and straightforward consumers found the systems use to be.

"If you build the best technology in the world, but people can’t figure out how to turn it on, then what’s the point? Half of the scoring will be on the user experience. Scores will be tabulated, certified by judges and the winners announced in the summer of 2015," Viirre said.

Viirre is a self-confessed lifelong fan of "Star Trek," having watched the original series when he was in high school.

Earlier this year, he had engineering students build a replica Sick Bay bed for actual medical research.

"The Sick Bay monitor that could measure your body function as soon as you lay down on the bed was my favorite, and I am building it!" he said. — ELR, GMA News

Tags: startrek, tricorder