It's definitely not our usual story, but this is just too cool to pass up. Want to prep your home for the next generation with style? A step-by-step guide to installing air powered sliding doors, as seen on Star Trek, has surfaced over at Instructables. The doors are normal in appearance (presumably to appease the designers wife), and maintenance free. They function using a hidden air compressor, a nifty concealed control panel, and a switch to activate the air. Hit the jump for a video of the futuristic doors in operation.

We've no doubt Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry would be proud, and maybe they should install these in Leonard Nimoy's retirement home when he gets there - make him feel a little more at home. But it's not quite the real deal, most noticeably it's lacking some form of proximity sensor that could automate the doors. That said, with a little creative thinking, some programming skills and an Xbox Kinect, maybe even that isn't in the too distant future?

Alternatively voice recognition would be a nice addition, then we could start acting out one of our favourite scenes from Airplane 2: The Sequel

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