This might belong better at Fleex's Lab, but whatever. This is a nice place.
I was operating the sound booth for a video presentation this morning when there were some issues. Since I was so high up and far away from the teacher overseeing the presentation (despite having line-of-sight), it was necessary for her to run up to the sound booth and make the appropriate change on the light control. A few hours later, during a chess game, I thought that the chest pin communicators seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation would have been immensely useful.
I believe it is possible for us at our current level of technology that would have at least helped my situation. It is already possible to have reasonably thin speakers (see earbuds) and microphones (see webcams). I'm not certain on RF transmitters/receivers, but there exists decently compact radio equipment (see MP3 players). Shove all that stuff into a 4 by 4 by 1 centimeter box, add some buttons to the front, and you've got an awesome communicator.
However, I do not believe it's possible to recreate the voice-activated routing. Instead, it would be more practical to link two or three communicators by placing them in contact and sending the new listening frequency. Once that is done, simply tap a large button to speak; others' transmissions are automatically played. A button to null the listening frequency might also be nice. Obviously, the transmissions couldn't go very far; it would be impossible to register constantly-changing mobile radio stations with the FCC.
I wonder how much such a device would cost. If it exists already, I would definitely pay up to around $200 for it, assuming there are a few other people who have them. Perhaps there's some company out there that could manufacture a few of these units.
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