Unlike recent videos about humans flapping their arms and taking flight, the YouTube movie posted above is the real deal. It depicts the brainchild of Candian PhD Peter Jansen, which is a real honest-to-goodness working Tricorder like the ones we have seen in Star Trek.

Containing eleven different sensing modalities, the Tricorder-Mark 1 is capable of reporting on things like atmospheric temperature and humidity as well as distance using an ultrasonic sensor (sonar). Before you start yelling at the screen for Jansen to shut up and take your money, know that this project is entirely open-source, allowing you to build and modify your own unit.

Jansen set out to create this device because of his strong belief in project-based learning coupled with his desire to spread the idea that, while there is so much we can see about science with our naked eyes, there’s much more happening that’s invisible to us.

The Tricorder experiment was intended to provide a low-cost, accessible piece of hardware that would help people explore their surroundings in much the same way as the different “away-teams” did on the popular sci-fi franchise. In addition to the built in thermometer and sonar sensors, the Tricorder has nine more sensors stuffed into its little frame. These consist of: a magnetic field sensor, light-to-frequency converter, pressure sensor, infrared thermometer, liner polarization filters, GPS receiver, light-to-voltage converter, and an inertial measurement unit. Why so many? Because Jansen wants people to be able to detect as much as possible so that they can learn more about their environment.

Jansen hasn’t stated how much the device cost to develop and build, but it looks like the parts list that he has posted on his site would make this a fairly inexpensive unit. If you’re looking for a science project to do with your child, or just for yourself for that matter, the Tricorder-Mark 1 may be just the ticket.

I’m very curious as to whether or not Jansen will be entering his Tricorder into the Qualcomm X-Prize contest to win the $10 million reward for creating a working scanner.

Read more at the the Tricorder Project, via Geekologie and Dvice