How did Luke know what the hell R2-D2 was talking about?

[Darth Fanboy]

One beep for no, two beeps for yes. Hi pitched whistle for "Luke get the fuck over here"

[Sea Skimmer]

I don't think Luke knows droidspeak cause he needs a text translation of it in his x-wing.

How would the sound transmit through the vacuum of space and then though his canopy?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

I don't think Luke knows droidspeak cause he needs a text translation of it in his x-wing.

How would the sound transmit through the vacuum of space and then though his canopy?

What?

[Lord of the Farce]

How would the sound transmit through the vacuum of space and then though his canopy?

What?

I think he meant that without some kind of link between R2 and the cockpit, R2's beeping wouldn't reach Luke when they are out in space (or something like that).

[Kuja]

I don't think Luke knows droidspeak cause he needs a text translation of it in his x-wing.

How would the sound transmit through the vacuum of space and then though his canopy?

It doesn't. R2's hooked up to the X-wing, after all, and there's likely a socket that hooks him to the translator program.

Luke wasn't always in the X-Wing.

True, but show me where he talks directly to R2 when he's on the ground. IIRC, he doesn't, he always talks through 3P0, like when he asks where the rest of Leia's message is. Even when 3P0 and Luke catch R2 in the desert, Luke has to ask "What's he saying?"

[Macross]

True, but show me where he talks directly to R2 when he's on the ground. IIRC, he doesn't, he always talks through 3P0, like when he asks where the rest of Leia's message is. Even when 3P0 and Luke catch R2 in the desert, Luke has to ask "What's he saying?"

Back then, Luke had just acquired R2 and C3P0, ESB and ROTJ take place years later. Thats more then enough time for Luke to learn the behavior and mannerism of R2 to be able to comminicate with him. Its just like how a cat or dog owner learns how to communicate with their pet.

[Knife]

True, but show me where he talks directly to R2 when he's on the ground. IIRC, he doesn't, he always talks through 3P0, like when he asks where the rest of Leia's message is. Even when 3P0 and Luke catch R2 in the desert, Luke has to ask "What's he saying?"

Back then, Luke had just acquired R2 and C3P0, ESB and ROTJ take place years later. Thats more then enough time for Luke to learn the behavior and mannerism of R2 to be able to comminicate with him. Its just like how a cat or dog owner learns how to communicate with their pet.

True but only to a certain extent. On Dagobah, Luke muses to R2 that "if you just said coming here was a bad idea-" which shows that he doesn't understand what R2 is saying but is taking a guess. For some situations it would be easy to figure out what R2 intends to say by knowing him/it and the the general situation. Also, prearanged signals are probably what Luke and R2 use when not in the Xwing. The data screen in the Xwing is probable so the R2 unit can display navigational and damage control data to the pilot. As a biproduct, the R2 unit can converse with the pilot if they have that kind of relationship. How ever note that in the movies, no one but Luke seems to converse with his R2 unit rather just uses them as a piece of equipment.

[Boba Fett]

BTW the novelization of ANH clearly states that the main part of R2's whistles can't be heared by a normal human ear.

[Cal Wright]

True, but show me where he talks directly to R2 when he's on the ground. IIRC, he doesn't, he always talks through 3P0, like when he asks where the rest of Leia's message is. Even when 3P0 and Luke catch R2 in the desert, Luke has to ask "What's he saying?"

On Dagobah.

[weemadando]

People, you know how BIOS makes nice funny beep noises to let you know just how fucked up the computer really is?

Its most likely a REALLY simple code system. Plus some of the noises are very emotive so its not that hard to understand the general gist of what Artoo is saying.

[Kuja]

True, but show me where he talks directly to R2 when he's on the ground. IIRC, he doesn't, he always talks through 3P0, like when he asks where the rest of Leia's message is. Even when 3P0 and Luke catch R2 in the desert, Luke has to ask "What's he saying?"

On Dagobah.

Bah, I meant in ANH. *kicks self for not being clearer*

[Smiling Bandit]

Its not any less specific than, say, the clicking language a certain African tribal society.

[IRG CommandoJoe]

How ever note that in the movies, no one but Luke seems to converse with his R2 unit rather just uses them as a piece of equipment.

Anakin.

[kojikun]

If humans can understand the multitudes of linguistic forms we have, i think we can understand something slightly different from what we know now.

Humans can make any number of sounds. Even normal speach is no different from droid talk. to say the letter "a", for instance, requires you to make a mid-low pitched frequency and shift to a high pitched frequency with no pause. If you added a pause, its "eh-ee". Vocal cord vibrations are not that different from whistles, the main difference being the pitch (whistling tends to be high pitched) and the production method (vibrating reeds versus cavity resonance or, for R2, something like a piezo electric transducer).

And whats more is, humans already CAN speak in whistles. When you whistle at a pretty girl or boy, thats a non-verbal way of saying "wow, sexy". That kind of whistle would be rising-falling. And you need no translation. If you whistle a short falling it's like saying "whoa, that was close. good thing i did such and such in time". Whole sentences can be compressed into non-verbal expressions.

You speak R2 talk without even realising it!

[Mad]

True, but show me where he talks directly to R2 when he's on the ground. IIRC, he doesn't, he always talks through 3P0, like when he asks where the rest of Leia's message is. Even when 3P0 and Luke catch R2 in the desert, Luke has to ask "What's he saying?"

On Dagobah.

But on Dagobah, he doesn't know what Artoo is saying. As was mentioned earlier (and it's the same thing I was thinking of), after Artoo makes some whistles, Luke responds "If you said coming here was a bad idea, I'm starting to agree with you."

The tone of Artoo's whistles change depending on what he's saying, so even the audience can tell the emotion he's conveying in his message. There's times when he's laughing (at Threepio while the Falcon is under attack), goofing around (swimming in the swamp after he falls off the X-wing), and other things I can't think of right now.

[IRG CommandoJoe]

(Whistles at kojikun's post.)

[Kurgan]

One beep for no, two beeps for yes. Hi pitched whistle for "Luke get the fuck over here"

That reminds me of Dr. McCoy's idiotic behavior in TOS "The Menagerie"... he claims he questioned Capt. Pike "for hours" with no success. What a moron!