Many a time in the old Star Trek series Captain Kirk managed to get Lieutenant Uhura through those automatic sliding doors for a bit of hanky-panky. Either that or some gorgeous woman who turned out to be some ghastly monster with more slime and hair than Simon Cowell.
Captain Kirk had to hide his love-ins behind closed doors otherwise he would have Bones raising his eyebrows even more than usual, or Scotty suggesting he needed more thrust!
Did you know that those early so-called electric sliding doors were actually two blokes pulling the doors out along smooth tracks and then pushing them back. Many a take had to be re-done as one half of the door ‘didn’t get the message’ to close.
These early sliding door systems evolved, but not much! They connected the two doors together by a bit of string and so when you pulled one string the doors opened and the other one made the doors close. At least then the actor wasn’t left with half a door to manoeuvre round.
How things have changed. Now a real Trekkie can have an automatic sliding door in their own house. These things are not just reserved for commercial sliding doors as the technology behind them is simple and not too expensive (though a bit more complicated than Star Trek string-worked ‘automatic’ sliding doors!).
Now, I am not a massive Star Trek fan (apart from 1st generation re-runs) but how cool would that be to have a sensor controlled automatic sliding door. How often do we try and open doors with our elbows because we are carrying a laptop, mouse and coffee (or a cuddly toy, dinner service and fondue set – good game, didn’t they do well – is anybody as old as me and know what I am talking about? 🙂
Well, for someone like me who is always carrying something (not like a virus) through doors I would love a pair. My wife, on the other hand, would kill me, and I am more scared of her than a Vulcan death grip.
Here is an assortment of funny Star Trek clips for old skool fans
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