LCARS

Short description: Fictional computer operating system utilized in Star Trek

Template:Infobox fictional artifact

An LCARS panel from Star Trek: Voyager, similar to one shown in the third-season episode "Displaced". The colors of the backlit artwork have faded over time; the panel looks more yellow and blue in the episode.

In the Star Trek fictional universe, LCARS (/ˈɛlkɑːrz/; an acronym for Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) is a computer operating system. Within Star Trek chronology, the term was first used in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series.

## Contents

* 1 Production
* 2 PADD
* 3 Legal
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Production

The LCARS graphical user interface was designed by scenic art supervisor and technical consultant Michael Okuda. The original design concept was influenced by a request from Gene Roddenberry that the instrument panels not have a great deal of activity on them.[1] This minimalized look was designed to give a sense that the technology was much more advanced than in the original Star Trek.[1]

On Star Trek: The Next Generation, many of the buttons were labeled with the initials of members of the production crew and were referred to as "Okudagrams."[2]

## PADD

Close-up of a PADD, as seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

The LCARS interface is often seen used on a PADD (Personal Access Display Device), a hand-held computer.[3]

At seven-inch (180 mm), similarly sized modern tablet computers such as the Nexus 7, Amazon Fire, BlackBerry PlayBook, and iPad Mini have been compared with the PADD.[4][5] Several mobile apps were created which offered an LCARS-style interface.[6][7]

## Legal

CBS Television Studios claims to hold the copyright on LCARS. Google was sent a DMCA letter to remove the Android app called Tricorder since its use of the LCARS interface was un-licensed. The application was later re-uploaded under a different title, but it was removed again.[8]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Michael Okuda interview". Star Trek: The Magazine 1 (7): 22. November 1999.
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `techmanual`
3. ↑ Stuart, Rick D.; Terra, John (September 1988). Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual. FASA Corporation. ISBN 1-55560-079-4.
4. ↑ Fung, Brian (26 July 2012). "Make It So: What Star Trek Tells Us About How to Make Tablets". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/make-it-so-what-star-trek-tells-us-about-how-to-make-tablets/260337/.
5. ↑ Foresman, Chris (September 10, 2016). "How Star Trek artists imagined the iPad… nearly 30 years ago". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/how-star-trek-artists-imagined-the-ipad-23-years-ago/.
6. ↑ Pascale, Anthony (April 11, 2010). "New 'LCARS' iPad Application Released". https://trekmovie.com/2010/04/11/new-lcars-ipad-application-released/.
7. ↑ Paul, Ryan (July 16, 2011). "Make It So: Hands-On With Official Star Trek iPad App". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2011/07/star-trek-padd-ipad/.
8. ↑ "Tricorder - Android Projects by Moonblink". http://code.google.com/p/moonblink/wiki/Tricorder.

## External links

*   * LCARS at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
*   * PADD at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

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