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LCARS

In the Star Trek fictional universe, LCARS (an acronym for Library Computer Access/Retrieval System, pronounced /ɛl karz/), is a fictional computer operating system depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures. Within Star Trek chronology, the term was first used in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in subsequent shows. In a real-world context, the term "LCARS" is frequently used to describe the style of the computer displays of the LCARS system, especially the screens from The Next Generation. The term Okudagram, named for Michael Okuda, the designer of the graphics, is also used to refer to this style. The design is popular among Star Trek fansites.

Production

The LCARS GUI 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. This minimalized look was designed to give a sense that the technology was much more advanced than in the original Star Trek. The early display panels were made out of colored Plexiglas with light behind them. This can produce complex looking displays cheaply. As the show progressed there was more use of animations. Most of the animations seen on the show are displayed on video equipment built into the sets.

Real life

There have been a number of attempts at emulating the look and feel of LCARS on existing hardware and software platforms, though few are dedicated systems such as the fictional LCARS platform.

The LCARS interface has been echoed on countless websites with their own individual schemes and shape sets. However, the LCARS Standards Development Board (LCARS SDB) has set out to create a unified theme and colour set that can be downloaded and used on websites and client side applications. The LCARS SDB has existed since January 2003 and currently covers colors and components. Other suggested standards are Layout, Sounds, Animation, and Font.

Trekker Reactor is an example of LCARS web implementation with the newer, blue LCARS design that was introduced in Star Trek Nemesis. The color scheme is stated in the web site's database as well as simple design tips. Trekker Reactor also features original LCARS sounds.

One attempt at making a usable and practical LCARS environment for existing hardware is the LCARS 24 project by Bill Morris. The project, born as an experiment on plain VGA display, was later improved to take all advantages of VESA 2.0 graphics boards, and it's in this shape that it was initially released to the general public, under GNU GPL 2 license allowing a community to gather around it. LCARS24 currently runs on top of an existing operating system such as FreeDOS or FreeDOS32 and is a viable alternative to graphical shell emulators designed to ease the usage of DOS. The platform, running an alarm clock as the default view, comes with a set of games, dedicated utilities, and other enhancements that provide functionality similar to earlier Windows and Mac versions. It currently uses the original FAT filesystem, with no long names. A distinguishing feature of this software, along with a look virtually identical to the original Okudagrams, is a markup language (SFML, Starfleet Markup Language) which eases the creation and storage of graphic diagrams like the Master Systems Displays as seen aboard the Star Trek starships. It also has an unusual approach to DOS itself, by using a command line interface with buffered output, giving the user the ability to scroll the buffer up and down at will.

Another LCARS implementation has been done in the free German DOS based operating system DESKWORK, which shows a user interface mimicking -and inspired by- the "Okudagrams" (screenshots) and uses an own metadata-based file system called LCARS. This superstructure to the FAT filesystems implements long filenames, hidden file type (no dot-extension required), data compression, optional password protection and the capability of having multiple files with the same name, while the interface gives the user the ability to manipulate every single file, by just using the correct list entry. However, the current implementation is making no use of the FAT capability of creating subdirectories, with the result of having a "planar" filesystem. In situations like the storage of hundreds of files, which may easily occur after importing entire directories or disks within Deskwork, this may give performance issues while switching between file views, which are type-centered and only show those files the "current" program section is capable to handle. In its unicity, Deskwork incorporates a number of well-known "old school" features, like many different DOS EGA/VGA fonts and the capability to play, in background, musical MODules (MODfiles), including some "canonical" productions from early and later Demoscene days. Deskwork even includes a complete module editor (tracker). One of its more remarkable features is, anyway, a text editor compatible with Japanese, capable to collapse letters into Katakana syllables while writing, and even with modern Greek, by replacing Latin characters after writing a single word. Deskwork uses German language only; however, some subtle language similarities with English have helped people who don't know German use this system with profit.

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the LCARS system and the communicator and tricorder - a LCARS theme was designed for the portable Nokia N800 / N810.