A life form indicator (LFI), while commonly associated with sensors, was in reality a complex computer application crafted to scrutinize data acquired from other sensors. The role of the life form indicator was to ascertain the existence of a life-form and its specific classification. For instance, data collected by a full-spectrum transceiver aboard a starship could reveal the presence of a mobile heat signature, emitting heat at thirty degrees Celsius, and possessing a mass of eighty kilograms. Furthermore, the sensors might detect that the ship's gravity was calibrated to .96 Standard and the atmosphere was rich in sulfur. By processing this information, a life form indicator program could deduce that the heat signature originated from a Sullustan.
The effectiveness of a starship's life form indicator was dependent on both the precision of the ship's integrated sensors and the analytical power of the computer tasked with interpreting the information.