Control interface

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A control interface or simply interface is a means by which a person operating a particular piece of equipment may instruct the device or system as to what they desire, and the item being controlled may respond accordingly. It is possible to combine elements of one or more of each type within an overall control system structure as alternative means of accessing the controls.

Control interfaces are commonly found on starships and space stations as part of console stations and are critical to how crewmembers interact with computer systems like LCARS.

A control interface can also refer to parts of the physical circuitry found in computers and other machines. Exocomps have a control interface in their internal circuitry that relays commands from a control PADD.

There are five major types of control interface available to most spacefaring species: physical, touch sensitive, motion sensitive, audio, and neural.

Physical

A duotronic-based control interface.

A physical control interface utilizes physical buttons, switches, dials, and levers for data input purposes, and relies on physical indicators such as gauges, status lights, and visual screens/monitors for response purposes. Manipulation of a physical control is often accompanied by a visual or audio cue to indicate that the input has been accepted by the interface.

A major use for physical controls, even after the introduction of more "advanced" systems is the operation of small equipment requiring only relatively simple commands, such as personal weapons, tricorders, and communicators.

Interfaces of this type were the primary ones utilized by Star Fleet in the 22nd century, and continued to be the prevalent in the Federation Star Fleet well into the late 23rd century.

Touch Sensitive

A touch-sensitive control interface in 2375.

Touch-sensitive interfaces typically consist of featureless panels with no physical instruments to manipulate at all. The entire surface can be controlled by computer to display a layout of marked areas which serve the same function when the surface detects contact from the user.

They are considered more "flexible" than physical interfaces, as the same physical unit can be rapidly reconfigured into whatever form a user might require by calling up the appropriate control template.

Star Fleet began to experiment with touch sensitive interfaces in the mid-2280s by incorporating them into the bridge of the prototype USS Excelsior.

Motion Sensitive

Motion-sensitive interfaces are generally used to control simple mechanisms, such as pocket doors and lights.

Audio

Audio control interfaces utilize spoken words or other transmitted sounds as both the primary means of data input and systems response, though response via other means could be requested by the operator. 23rd-century computers made frequent use of audio interfaces, as did personal communicators, a trend which continued into the 24th century.

Neural

A VISOR, a neural interface.

Neural interfaces directly transmit commands from and information into the brain of the operator, thus bypassing the need to use comparatively inefficient physical manipulation of controls to complete a task. Neural interfaces are frequently used in clandestine/criminal activities.