{"id":19701,"date":"2013-05-31T00:51:33","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T16:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/qa-star-treks-data-on-autism-space-travel-and-the-link-between-humanity-and-technology\/"},"modified":"2013-05-31T00:51:33","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T16:51:33","slug":"qa-star-treks-data-on-autism-space-travel-and-the-link-between-humanity-and-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/qa-star-treks-data-on-autism-space-travel-and-the-link-between-humanity-and-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Star Trek\u2019s \u2018Data\u2019 on autism, space travel, and the link between humanity and technology"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brent Spiner, a.k.a. \u201cData\u201d from Star Trek, tried out Google Glass for the first time on Wednesday at the Museum of Flight. Spiner was in town supporting Planetary Resources\u2019 Kickstarter campaign.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He didn\u2019t realize it at the time, but when Brent Spiner portrayed an android named \u201cData,\u201d during 177 episodes of Star Trek, he was an inspiration for those suffering from autism and Asperger syndrome.<\/p>\n

Often struggling to understand human emotion, \u201cData\u201d was one of the few characters on TV that people with autism or Asperger syndrome could relate to because he was trying to understand feelings and humanity in the same way they did.<\/p>\n

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Brent Spiner played \u201cData\u201d on Star Trek. From Flickr user T.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spiner, who was in Seattle on Wednesday to support Planetary Resources\u2019 Kickstarter campaign, said nowadays he\u2019ll have adults come up to him during Star Trek conventions and thank him for his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne man told me that I was the poster boy for kids with Asperger\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really knocks me out when I hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only time that Spiner caught wind of this while acting on Star Trek was when the respected Dr. Oliver Sacks dropped by the studio trailer looking for Spiner. Sacks would later write a book about autism that mentioned a patient who could only relate to \u201cData.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think how lucky I was because I didn\u2019t have anything to do with it. I just showed up and played the part,\u201d Spiner said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like I was trying to do that; it was just a tangential thing that happened to be bigger even than entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

We got a chance to talk more with Spiner about his Star Trek days, his favorite apps and his thoughts on Google Glass. <\/span><\/p>\n

GeekWire: <\/strong>What made you decide to come to Seattle and help out Planetary Resources?<\/p>\n

Spiner: <\/strong>Peter [Diamandis] called me and asked me to get involved and I thought it was interesting. He first told me about Planetary and what he does with looking to mine asteroids for valuable materials. Then he mentioned this telescope, and then he mentioned it would be available to schools and they were looking to create curriculum for high school students to be able to use the telescope and explore space in depth in a way that no one has been able to do before. That sold me, given that I\u2019m a father of a soon-to-be 11 year old.<\/p>\n

I think we all have to pay attention to education and the future for our kids. As we adults destroy the planet, it\u2019s the one our kids will be left with and we better educate them so they can fix it all because we\u2019re here messing it up.<\/p>\n

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Brent Spiner, right, speaks to the Planetary Resources staff and volunteer cohort with the company\u2019s co-founder Peter Diamandis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GeekWire: <\/strong>Since we\u2019re here talking about mining asteroids and thinking about what\u2019s in outer space, how did your time on Star Trek influence how you think about the future?<\/p>\n

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Brent Spiner and Peter Diamandis speak with Bill Nye, another Planetary Resources supporter, over Skype on Wednesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spiner: <\/strong><\/strong>Really, <\/strong>the biggest influence Star Trek had on me is that I got to meet a bunch of really cool people. That\u2019s all it really did as far as I\u2019m concerned. It was a wonderful part to play, a really sweet job to have and the gift that keeps on giving. But it was a job. I was an actor. I went home, I learned my hard lines, I had to get up and go put that makeup on every morning and I was there 16 hours a day for ten months.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t like when you sit in your living room and watch the show and go, \u2018Wow, I dream one day of being an explorer of space.\u2019 No. I didn\u2019t even watch the show. I\u2019ve seen 20 episodes and we did 178 of them. How are they? I hear they\u2019re good. And I\u2019m particularly good, right? (laughs).<\/p>\n

Seriously though, it was a job, I was an actor and I still am. I don\u2019t have any real association with it beyond what anybody else does. It was the part I played. If I had done Western for seven years, it doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m a cowboy now. It\u2019s just fiction.<\/p>\n

The biggest value to me is that other people really enjoy it and want to watch it. It\u2019s not for me. We didn\u2019t go to work everyday so we would love astronomy and become astrophysicists \u2014 it was so other people could enjoy it and so it could inspire them, not us. What really changed my perception more than anything is having people with autism and Asperger\u2019s tell me that \u201cData\u201d was the only character they could relate to.<\/p>\n

GeekWire: <\/strong>I just saw you trying out Google Glass for the first time. Since you did play an android on TV, what do you think about augmented reality and all this new technology?<\/p>\n