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An inactive Federation holodeck, pre- 2371

An inactive Federation holodeck, post- 2371

An alternate holodeck design

A holographic environment simulator , or holodeck as it was most commonly referred to, was a holographic simulation room , which was a form of holotechnology designed and used by the Federation Starfleet which ran holographic programs . They were installed aboard starships , space stations , and at Starfleet institutions during the mid- 24th century for use in entertainment, training, and investigative purposes. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

• 4 Abilities and limitations
• 5 Holoprograms
• 6.1 Appearances
• 6.2 Additional references
• 6.3 Background information
• 6.4 See also
• 6.5 External links

History [ ]

A 22nd century Xyrillian holo-chamber

Captain Lorca and Lieutenant Tyler exiting a holographic combat simulation

Prior to the late 24th century , Federation starships were not equipped with holodecks. ( VOY : " Flashback ")

In 2151 , the Starfleet vessel Enterprise NX-01 encountered a vessel belonging to an alien race known as Xyrillians , who had advanced holographic technology in the form of a holographic chamber, or holo-chamber for short, which was similar to the holodeck technology commonly used by Starfleet two centuries later. ( ENT : " Unexpected ")

A holo-chamber was later installed aboard a Klingon battle cruiser after an encounter with a Xyrillian vessel discovered " hitchhiking " behind their ship. ( ENT : " Unexpected ")

In the 23rd century , the Crossfield -class vessel USS Discovery was equipped with holographic technology including holographic communications and combat training simulations. ( DIS : " Lethe ")

The recreation room aboard Constitution -class starships employed holographic technology. The USS Enterprise had a recreation room located in Area 39 of the ship. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

By 2364 , the Federation Starfleet was already installing holodecks aboard their vessels. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

During the 2360s and 2370s , a starship could have one or more holodecks depending on the vessel's size or purpose. For example, the compact Defiant -class USS Defiant did not have a holodeck while the larger Galaxy -class USS Enterprise -D had at least seven. ( TNG : " The Perfect Mate ")

In 2366 , Data and Deanna Troi brought Lal to the holodeck in order to choose an appearance. ( TNG : " The Offspring ")

The Intrepid -class USS Voyager had at least two holodecks. The holodecks on Voyager were the only places other than sickbay where The Doctor was able to exist (prior to obtaining his mobile emitter ) after his program was modified by the crew so he wasn't so tightly tied into the sickbay's systems. ( VOY : " Night ", " Heroes and Demons ")

B'Elanna Torres used the Voyager 's holodeck for a holographic orbital skydiving session. ( VOY : " Extreme Risk ")

Prometheus -class starships were equipped with holoemitters on every deck to allow an EMH a higher level of access and free movement around the ship. ( VOY : " Message in a Bottle ")

Purpose [ ]

The most obvious function of a holodeck was to provide entertainment and diversion for a starship's crew, as they typically spent months or years on missions. Entertainment could come in many forms, with personnel able to compose their own holo programs. Users could, for example, frequent a bar, become a character in a holo-novel , engage in extreme sports, and date and have sex with holographic characters. ( TNG : " 11001001 ", " The Big Goodbye ", " Elementary, Dear Data ", " A Fistful of Datas ", " The Perfect Mate "; VOY : " The Cloud ", " Blood Fever ", " Homestead ", " Fair Haven ", " Extreme Risk ", " Body and Soul ", " Cathexis ", " Night "; LD : " Moist Vessel ")

A holodeck could be used to create training simulations and exercise environments not otherwise available or safe, including starship battle simulations, physical and combat simulations, the Bridge Officer's Test and the Kobayashi Maru scenario . ( TNG : " Code of Honor ", " Where Silence Has Lease ", " The Emissary ", " New Ground ", " Thine Own Self ", " Firstborn "; VOY : " Learning Curve ", " Extreme Risk ", " The Fight "; LD : " Terminal Provocations "; PRO : " Kobayashi ")

The holodeck (or holographic research lab ) could be used as a laboratory to aid in analysis, such as recreating the scene of a crime or accident to aid in forensic investigations. ( TNG : " A Matter of Perspective "; VOY : " Repression ") They could be used to visualize a 3D scene from alternate data sources for analysis, ( TNG : " Identity Crisis ", " Phantasms "; VOY : " Distant Origin ") or used as a brainstorming tool. ( TNG : " Schisms ", " Booby Trap ", " The Offspring ")

The holodeck could also be used to test a person's beliefs or motives by creating a program to trick them into revealing their actions. ( DS9 : " Inquisition ")

The arch in an inactive holodeck, pre-2371

A typical holodeck consisted of a room equipped with a hologrid containing omnidirectional holographic diodes , enabling holographic projections and holograms . Elements of transporter technology and replicators were used to create holodeck matter by the manipulation of photons contained within force fields to give objects the illusion of substance as well as actual matter. This matter could exist outside of the holodeck for brief periods of time (such as snow) before they would lose cohesion and revert back to energy without the support of the hologrid. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Big Goodbye ", " Elementary, Dear Data ") Holodecks were powered by holodeck reactors . ( VOY : " Parallax ") They were also equipped with biofilters which had to be periodically removed and emptied of waste matter. As removing the filter could momentarily expel a cloud of odorous gas, this was generally considered a highly undesirable task. ( LD : " Moist Vessel ")

Holodecks had databases to store programs, holograms, and holographic templates . ( VOY : " Renaissance Man ") A holobuffer stored complex holograms when inactive. ( VOY : " Lifesigns ", " Latent Image ", " Inside Man ") Due to the ability to store highly complex energy patterns, it was possible in some cases to store a person's physical parameters from his or her transporter pattern in the holodeck database. This could, in turn, be available for use in creation of holograms. ( DS9 : " Our Man Bashir ") While viewing programs, a user could delete holocharacters using character deletion algorithms . ( DS9 : " Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang ")

Holodecks had general systems and modes of operation that were used in holographic programs. They employed spatial orientation systems to simulate parts of a holocharacter, such as left- or right-handedness. ( TNG : " Ship In A Bottle ") Holodecks could also have a program element called a perceptual filter to hide anachronisms to the program's time period, such as uniforms and communicators, in order to prevent them from raising the character's ire and curiosity. ( VOY : " Spirit Folk ") Among the viewing modes on a holodeck was objective mode , in which the user didn't interact with the characters, and subjective mode , in which the viewer could interact with the characters as well as alter his or her surroundings. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ") Holodecks could be equipped to change gravity in three dimensions. ( VOY : " Extreme Risk ")

The holodeck could be controlled from an exterior control panel, the interior arch control, or through bridge control relays in some designs. The arch could be summoned at any time to change the parameters of a running holoprogram . Matter and energy were interchangeable as such objects created on the holodeck could be either matter or energy. ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data "; VOY : " Heroes and Demons ", " The Killing Game "; Star Trek: Insurrection ) Holodecks included components such as bi-converter interfaces . ( TNG : " The Big Goodbye ")

William T. Riker entering a holodeck simulation in 2364

When a user experienced a holographic environment, the holodeck walls could generate holographic images that appeared to extend for an unlimited distance, seemingly much larger than its own dimensions. The walls could be revealed if someone took an unexpected action in the program which hit the wall, for example if a person were to throw a holographic rock at the walls and the program was not able to react to show the rock continuing into the holographic image it created. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

A holodeck program in the process of shutting down

Holodecks were equipped with safety protocols to prevent serious injury during their use, though these could be disengaged by the user when required. When protocols were deactivated, holographic obstacles had the same effects on a person as the objects or instances they simulated; holographic bullets or a steep drop could be fatal in such a scenario. ( TNG : " The Big Goodbye "; Star Trek: First Contact ; VOY : " Extreme Risk ")

How the security protocols were circumvented differed; in one instance, it required the voice authorization of two senior officers , ( TNG : " Descent ") while in others the authorization of the individual such as the ship's captain, or the person who started the program was enough. ( VOY : " Extreme Risk ") Safety protocols could also be unintentionally disabled due to software errors or physical damage to the holodeck's hardware system. The status of safety protocols could be reviewed by the computer upon the request of an operator. A tricorder could also be used within the holodeck to query the current safety protocol status.

While it was noted by Geordi La Forge that there was no specific prohibition against creating images of people that existed in reality, some people such as Commander William Riker and Leah Brahms would take offense to people doing so. Lieutenant Barclay apparently had no problem creating holograms of the Enteprise D's crew, while Quark did not have easy access to Major/Colonel Kira's image in a program to rent to one of his customers.

Abilities and limitations [ ]

By the 2370s, holodeck technology was able to have fine enough control over magnetic containment fields that holographic objects could interact with matter on a biologically small level, for example, in replacing a person's organ with a simulated one that mimicked its functionality. ( VOY : " Phage ")

The computer used large magnetic bubbles to simulate surfaces and textures rather than creating an object at the molecular level. However, objects created within the holodeck did not exist beyond the holodeck itself, as they only existed as energy . ( TNG : " The Big Goodbye ") Holodecks also had access to extensive databases and archives and could recreate most historical scenes nearly exactly as they had occurred according to official records. This included material sometimes down to the smallest details, such as casual conversations by random people in public places, although in certain recreations the character names and appearances were slightly changed. ( TNG : " We'll Always Have Paris ")

Since holodeck technology could be used with replicator technology, there were some instances where real objects were replicated within the holodeck and used to interact with the holographic program and/or users for a more realistic experience; since these objects were real material composed of matter, they could leave the holodeck fully intact. Examples of this include Wesley Crusher still being wet after leaving the holodeck after falling into replicated water, ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ") Lieutenant Commander Data being able to take a drawing of the Enterprise on a piece of paper out into the hallway, ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data ") and a wayward snowball being able to pass through the holodeck doors and strike Captain Picard. ( TNG : " Angel One ") Scents were also simulated in this way.

A holodeck could also modify the appearance of persons within it.

• The holoprogram depicting the final mission of the NX-class starship Enterprise NX-01 could project uniforms suitable to the participants' role over them. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")
• A holodeck was able to superimpose an entirely different appearance over a participant. ( TNG : " The Offspring ")
• Tom Paris ' holoprogram Captain Proton existed as a monochromatic environment. ( VOY : " Night ", " Bride of Chaotica! ")
• As part of The Big Good-Bye , appropriate attire could be projected over participants of the program. ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• Simulations could also be projected inside living organisms, including that of pregnancy . ( VOY : " The Killing Game ")
• B'Elanna Torres ' leg appeared to dematerialize while she was participating in the holonovel Photons Be Free as the holographic main character. ( VOY : " Author, Author ")
• Seven of Nine used the holodeck to hide her cybernetic implants. ( VOY : " Human Error ")

Holograms could be augmented with force beams to simulate solid, tangible objects or with replicator technology to create actual solid matter such as foodstuffs . All food eaten on the holodeck were replications. No other type of simulation could survive outside of the holodeck. ( citation needed • edit )

A holodeck also had the ability to create holodecks within holodecks, and holodeck programs were able to be saved to a tech cube that could be inserted into an enhancement module to form an optronic data core with information to "last a lifetime." ( TNG : " Ship In A Bottle ")

The holodeck reactor , which powered the holodeck on 24th century Federation starships like Voyager , was incompatible with other ship systems. ( VOY : " Parallax ")

Failure of a holodeck's matter conversion subsystem could cause the loss of solid objects within the holodeck environment. Materialization errors occurred in the USS Enterprise -D holodecks in 2370 following the ship's exposure to plasmonic energy in the atmosphere of the planet Boraal II . ( TNG : " Homeward ")

Even though holographically created characters, just like characters in a story book, were never self-aware and never knew that they were not real, there were a few rare instances in which that rule did not hold true. During a Sherlock Holmes holodeck simulation in the late 2360s , Geordi La Forge and Doctor Katherine Pulaski argued that playing with Data was impossible and unfair to them as he had memorized all the Sherlock Holmes novels and could easily solve the cases. In order to level the playing field, La Forge requested that the holodeck create an opponent intelligent enough to defeat Data.

Even though La Forge meant Holmes, his request had specifically noted Data. As a result, the holodeck created a self-aware holographic character of James Moriarty who was not only fully aware of his own consciousness, but who subsequently argued that he had a right to exist and leave the holodeck to pursue his life as he wished. ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data ", " Ship In A Bottle ") Another holographic writer, known as Felix , created the fully self-aware program of Vic Fontaine for the crew of Deep Space 9 , Vic being completely aware of his holographic nature despite being a 1960s lounge singer, often offering the crew personal advice on relationship issues. ( DS9 : " His Way ", " Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang ", " It's Only a Paper Moon ")

Holoprograms [ ]

The brig Enterprise holoprogram

Starships with a holodeck normally had a vast list of holoprograms in their computer . Several notable programs aboard the USS Enterprise -D included:

• A woodland setting, resembling Earth, which featured rock-jumping challenges, some of which were seemingly impossible to complete. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")
• A New Orleans jazz nightclub . ( TNG : " 11001001 ")
• A recreation of the voyage on the Orient Express . ( TNG : " Emergence ")
• Sherlock Holmes mysteries, in which the user assumed the role of Sherlock Holmes and/or Dr. Watson ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data ", " Ship In A Bottle ")
• Prospero's island, decor for Shakespeare 's The Tempest . ( TNG : " Emergence ")
• The Valley of Chula on Romulus ( TNG : " The Defector ")
• Café des Artistes – "Enjoy a meal at a French cafe." ( TNG : " We'll Always Have Paris ")
• Charnock's Comedy Cabaret – "Laugh in a 20th century comedy club." ( TNG : " The Outrageous Okona ")
• The Big Good-Bye – "The 1940s world of gumshoe detective Dixon Hill ." ( TNG : " The Big Goodbye ", " Manhunt ", " Clues ")
• Cliffs of Heaven – "From planet Sumiko IV , a safe experience." ( TNG : " Conundrum ")
• Equestrian Adventure – " Horse riding in an open country..." ( TNG : " Pen Pals ")
• Karate Dojo – Shown by Tasha Yar to the Ligonians before she was kidnapped. ( TNG : " Code of Honor ")
• Lieutenant Worf's Klingon calisthenics program – a swamp -like setting in which various alien enemies tested ones fighting skill. ( TNG : " Where Silence Has Lease ", " The Emissary ", " New Ground ")
• The bridge of the USS Enterprise – the user could select any of the five (at the time) bridges of the various Federation starships named Enterprise to view. Captain Montgomery Scott only wanted to see the original Enterprise bridge, "no bloody A , B , C , or D ." ( TNG : " Relics ")
• The Final Mission of Enterprise – this program allowed a user to view or take part in the final mission of the NX-01 Enterprise , commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer , as well as showcasing the signing of the Federation Charter . ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")
• Natasha Yar 's Living Will – designed by Lieutenant Natasha Yar to be played in the event she was killed, where she bid farewell to her comrades. The Enterprise bridge crew unfortunately had to watch the program when Yar was killed by Armus on Vagra II . ( TNG : " Skin Of Evil ")
• Celtris III Underground – a simulation in which the users could prepare for missions on the Cardassian planet of Celtris III. ( TNG : " Chain Of Command, Part I ")
• Lieutenant Barclay 's various programs – these included a mock-up of Ten Forward , in which the user could attack Commander Riker and Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge to "blow off some steam" as well as win the heart of Deanna Troi ; a mock-up of Counselor Troi's office in which the user could receive counseling from a hologram rather than the real Troi; a woodland setting in which the user could duel with recreations of Captain Picard , Data , and La Forge in a sword fight, complete with a recreation of Deanna Troi as "The Goddess of Empathy"; a mock-up of the Enterprise -D bridge, in which the user could bid farewell to the bridge crew; the Einstein program in which the user could debate mathematics and science with Albert Einstein ; a synaptic interface in which the user could control the main computer of the Enterprise with the power of their own thoughts (however, removal of the user by conventional means would result in death); and various other programs. ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ", " The Nth Degree ")
• A game of poker with three famous scientific minds: Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton , and Stephen Hawking . ( TNG : " Descent ")
• USS Enterprise – an 18th century Earth brig . ( Star Trek Generations )

Notable programs aboard the USS Enterprise -E included:

• The Big Good-Bye – "The 1940s world of gumshoe detective Dixon Hill ." ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• Café des Artistes – "Enjoy a meal at a French cafe." ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• Champs Elysees – "Famous section of Paris ." ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• Charnock's Comedy Cabaret – "Laugh in a 20th century comedy club." ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• Emerald Wading Pool – "From planet Sumiko III , a safe experience." ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• Equestrian Adventure – " Horse riding in an open countryside with a choice of..." ( Star Trek: First Contact )

Notable programs aboard the USS Voyager included:

• Chez Sandrine ( VOY : " The Cloud ")
• Janeway Lambda One ( VOY : " Learning Curve ")
• Paxau Resort ( VOY : " Warlord ")
• Insurrection Alpha ( VOY : " Worst Case Scenario ")
• Leonardo da Vinci's workshop ( VOY : " Scorpion ")
• The Adventures of Flotter ( VOY : " Once Upon a Time ")
• Velocity ( VOY : " Hope and Fear ")
• The Adventures of Captain Proton ( VOY : " Night ")
• Fair Haven ( VOY : " Fair Haven ")
• Photons Be Free ( VOY : " Author, Author ")
• Holographic family ( VOY : " Real Life ")

Notable programs aboard the USS Protostar included:

• Andoria IV ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Ceti Alpha V ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• kal-if-fee gladiatorial match ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Count Dracula ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Janeway Lambda One ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Deadwood , South Dakota ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Paxau Resort ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Kobayashi Maru scenario ( PRO : " Kobayashi ")
• Fox, chicken and grain problem ( PRO : " Time Amok ")

Notable programs aboard the USS Enterprise 's recreation room included:

• A beach setting allowing for swimming.
• A woodland environment allowing for a nature walk.
• An arctic wasteland.
• An 18th century style hedge maze . ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Practical Joker " (Season 2)
• " Encounter at Farpoint " (Pilot, Season 1)
• " Code of Honor "
• " The Big Goodbye "
• " 11001001 "
• " Coming of Age "
• " Skin Of Evil "
• " We'll Always Have Paris "
• " Where Silence Has Lease " (Season 2)
• " Elementary, Dear Data "
• " The Dauphin "
• " The Icarus Factor "
• " Pen Pals "
• " Manhunt "
• " The Emissary "
• " Shades of Gray " (recycled footage)
• " Booby Trap " (Season 3)
• " The Defector "
• " A Matter of Perspective "
• " The Offspring "
• " Hollow Pursuits "
• " Family " (Season 4)
• " Future Imperfect "
• " Data's Day "
• " Devil's Due "
• " Galaxy's Child "
• " Identity Crisis "
• " The Nth Degree "
• " New Ground " (Season 5)
• " Cost Of Living "
• " The Perfect Mate "
• " Relics " (Season 6)
• " Schisms "
• " A Fistful of Datas "
• " Chain Of Command, Part I "
• " Ship In A Bottle "
• " Rightful Heir "
• " Descent "
• " Phantasms " (Season 7)
• " Inheritance "
• " Homeward "
• " Thine Own Self "
• " Firstborn "
• " Bloodlines "
• " Emergence "
• " All Good Things... "
• " Emissary " (Season 1)
• " Inquisition " (Season 6)
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• " The Cloud " (Season 1)
• " Heroes and Demons "
• " Cathexis "
• " Learning Curve "
• " Projections " (Season 2)
• " Twisted "
• " Parturition "
• " Persistence of Vision "
• " Threshold "
• " Lifesigns "
• " The Swarm " (Season 3)
• " Warlord "
• " The Q and the Grey "
• " Macrocosm "
• " Alter Ego "
• " Blood Fever "
• " Darkling "
• " Before and After "
• " Real Life "
• " Distant Origin "
• " Displaced "
• " Worst Case Scenario "
• " Scorpion "
• " Scorpion, Part II " (Season 4)
• " Day of Honor "
• " The Raven "
• " Scientific Method "
• " Concerning Flight "
• " Mortal Coil "
• " The Killing Game "
• " The Killing Game, Part II "
• " Vis à Vis "
• " The Omega Directive "
• " Hope and Fear "
• " Night " (Season 5)
• " Extreme Risk "
• " Once Upon a Time "
• " Timeless "
• " Nothing Human "
• " Thirty Days "
• " Latent Image "
• " Bride of Chaotica! "
• " Dark Frontier "
• " The Fight "
• " Someone to Watch Over Me "
• " Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy " (Season 6)
• " Pathfinder "
• " Fair Haven "
• " Spirit Folk "
• " Life Line "
• " Imperfection " (Season 7)
• " Repression "
• " Inside Man "
• " Body and Soul "
• " Flesh and Blood "
• " Shattered "
• " Lineage "
• " Prophecy "
• " Human Error "
• " Author, Author "
• " Renaissance Man "
• " These Are the Voyages... " (Season 4)
• " Lethe " (Season 1)
• " Second Contact " (Season 1)
• " Moist Vessel "
• " Terminal Provocations "
• " Crisis Point "
• " wej Duj " (Season 2)
• " Room for Growth " (Season 3)
• " Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus "
• " Twovix " (Season 4)
• " I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee "
• " Something Borrowed, Something Green "
• " Old Friends, New Planets "
• " Kobayashi " (Season 1)
• " Time Amok "
• " A Moral Star, Part 2 "
• " Let Sleeping Borg Lie "
• " Ghost in the Machine "
• " No Win Scenario " (Season 3)
• " Imposters "
• " The Bounty "

Additional references [ ]

• " The Measure Of A Man " (Season 2)
• " Evolution " (Season 3)
• " Captain's Holiday "
• " The Loss " (Season 4)
• " The Game " (Season 5)
• " Conundrum "
• " Imaginary Friend "
• " Man Of The People " (Season 6)
• " Liaisons " (Season 7)
• " The Way of the Warrior " (Season 4)
• " Parallax " (Season 1)
• " Prime Factors "
• " Non Sequitur " (Season 2)
• " Investigations "
• " Deadlock "
• " The Thaw "
• " Basics, Part I "
• " Flashback " (Season 3)
• " Remember "
• " Future's End "
• " Revulsion " (Season 4)
• " Waking Moments "
• " Message in a Bottle "
• " Living Witness "
• " Relativity " (Season 5)
• " Equinox "
• " Equinox, Part II " (Season 6)
• " Riddles "
• " Ashes to Ashes "
• " Live Fast and Prosper "
• " Drive " (Season 7)
• " Critical Care "
• " Nightingale "
• " Friendship One "
• " Homestead "
• " Endgame "

Background information [ ]

Dennis Hoerter with a holodeck model at Image G

The remastering of a holodeck scene from "A Matter of Perspective"

The concept of the holodeck originated in 1968 , when Gene Roddenberry came up with the idea of a "simulated outdoor recreation area" on the Enterprise for the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series . This idea never came to fruition, probably because of budget constraints. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 404) The idea was later used in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode " The Practical Joker ", which was basically the first appearance of the holodeck, then called a " recreation room ". It came to existence in live-action production in the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Its inclusion in that series was originally proposed by Robert H. Justman , who initially thought of and suggested it as a place where crew members could be "psychically connected" with their homeworld. ( Starlog issue 115, p. 71)

In early episodes of TNG, the series' production staff had an unwritten rule that the floors in a holodeck simulation shouldn't go below the floor level of the holodeck's door. This made sense, as burrowing down to the deck below would probably be inadvisable on a starship. Subsequent story requirements and set designs eventually influenced producers to alter their "rule," deciding that at least one holodeck was a multi-story chamber. ( text commentary , Star Trek Generations  (Special Edition) DVD )

The appearance of the holodeck on TNG was affected by having limited finances. Production Designer Herman Zimmerman commented, " We were in a budget constraint that made us do a set that is a wireframe look. " Zimmerman and other members of the design team that worked on TNG had a long-standing interest in demonstrating the machinery of the holodeck from inside the room, though this was not made possible until the advent of the Cardassian holosuite in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . ( The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion )

Despite the fact that the Galaxy -class starship was meant to have numerous holodecks, a single set represented these environments on TNG. This was one of the last sets to be built for the show and was also used to represent the Galaxy -class cargo bays , shuttlebays , and gymnasium . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (3rd ed., p. 10))

The holodeck arch was a prop that was originally made for TNG : " Haven ". Although some holodeck programs incorporated the arch to make the task of finding the way out easier, the arch originated as a way to let outsiders know when it was safe or appropriate to enter. ( text commentary , Star Trek Generations  (Special Edition) DVD ) The same arch set piece was featured in both TNG and the film Star Trek Generations . ( Cinefex , No. 61, p. 69)

The exterior of an Intrepid -class holodeck, mid- 2371

For its first appearance on Star Trek: Voyager in " The Cloud ", the exterior of the holodeck was the same set piece as had previously been seen on TNG, right down to the octagonal door frame, although all had been repainted to match the color scheme for the new Voyager corridors. It did not receive a square door arch and updated door panels until its second appearance.

There are many discrepancies between episodes pertaining to the abilities and limits of holodeck technology. For example, in " Encounter at Farpoint ", the young Wesley Crusher remains wet with holodeck water, after exiting into a corridor. In " Elementary, Dear Data ", a piece of paper given to Data by James Moriarty is able to be carried outside of the holodeck and into a hall, but upon Moriarty's return in " Ship In A Bottle ", a book thrown outside of the holodeck instantly disappears.

Also, in " The Big Goodbye ", Cyrus Redblock and Felix Leech disappear slowly after a few moments outside of the holodeck, although a lipstick smudge from a holographic character stays with Picard all the way onto the bridge. Although these inconsistencies can be partially explained by the difference in the types of objects leaving the holodeck, it still leaves quite a few questions about what exactly constitutes the differences. The holodeck can use a degree of replication to make realistic objects for the holodeck occupant to use, so there is a possibility of the computer replicating a real piece of paper with the picture on, as it would be a relatively simple pattern.

Some may argue that another discrepancy is the need for holodeck users to change into the appropriate costumes before entering and leaving the holodeck, since the holodeck has the ability to change the appearance of its users (established in ENT : " These Are the Voyages... "). But this may just be an issue of taste, on the user's possible preference of replicated clothes versus holographic clothes. Another theory is that the settings of the holodeck can be altered to not only make weapons be lethal as seen in Star Trek: First Contact in which Picard kills the Borg in a ballroom suite with a machine gun but also to make what events transpired inside it real life like the aforementioned lipstick smudge on Picard

Actor Robert O'Reilly once remarked that, when he appeared as Scarface in TNG : " Manhunt ", he "really didn't understand the holodeck." ( The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine  issue 16 , p. 24)

Ultimately, it is evident to longtime viewers of the Star Trek franchise that the holodeck is a storytelling device, like many other aspects of the shows, and only behaves consistently within narrative bounds.

From the Star Trek Encyclopedia  (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 344), "Star Trek writer-producer Ronald D. Moore argued that in a free society of responsible citizens, there should be little or no limit on what an adult can do in a holodeck. Even if others might find certain activities objectionable, what one does in one's private space is no one's business; certainly not the government 's. Of the argument that certain activities should be prohibited on the grounds that they might be harmful or addictive to a holodeck participant, Moore suggested that in a free society, a responsible adult must be permitted to judge risks to his or her own well-being, and to act accordingly. Moore conceded that there might well be circumstances in which someone might object to being replicated on a holodeck, but notes that it would be extremely difficult to define legally what constituted fair use and what was abusive. (Moore emphasized that he referred to holodeck usage by adults, not by children.) "

The holodeck is one of the prominent examples of Star Trek predicting technology, like VR, MR, and AR.

See also [ ]

• Computer-generated imagery
• Federation holoship
• Holoprogram
• Holotechnology
• Synaptic stimulator
• Visual simulator

External links [ ]

• Holodeck at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Holodeck at Wikipedia
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Star Trek’s Holodeck: from science fiction to a new reality

Senior lecturer, RMIT University

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Fabio Zambetta has received funding from the ARC (Australian Research Council) under the ARC Linkage and ARC Discovery programs.

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Many of the technological advances predicted in Star Trek’s fictional universe have become reality , such as the mobile communicator and hand-held tablet computers.

Others, such as tractor beams and warp drives , are still a work in progress. But what of the Holodeck ?

The Holodeck first appeared in The Practical Joker , a 1974 episode of the Star Trek animated series. It was depicted as a recreation room containing a simulated, alternative version of reality. It featured heavily in The Next Generation series and in the 1996 film First Contact .

Anyone entering the Holodeck could interact with “solid” props and characters in any scenario based on whatever parameters they programmed.

These programs are not unlike the narrative-driven, cinematic videogames we have today, such as Grand Theft Auto , Red Dead Redemption or The Witcher .

The Holodeck was a narrative device that allowed Star Trek’s writers to experiment with philosophical questions in settings not available in a typical sci-fi context.

It inspired several generations of computer scientists who spearheaded research in artificial intelligence, computer graphics and human-computer interaction.

The convergence of these research areas has given rise to other forms of reality on the path to the construction of a real Holodeck.

A real Holodeck?

In virtual reality ( VR ) we are fully immersed in a synthetic, “virtual” version of reality, experienced through dedicated VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive .

A typical example of VR is an immersive war game that puts a user in charge of a Roman army as Caesar, battling Vercingetorix’s Gaul troops at Alesia.

But VR has a major drawback for some applications. Being isolated from the real world, it’s not easy to engage in social interaction or physical movement in a way that feels natural to most people.

Augmented reality ( AR ) blends synthetic, virtual objects with the view of our physical reality. In AR, we can interact with virtual humans inhabiting our physical space or we can work with our children, for example, to build virtual LEGO houses on real tables in our own living rooms.

Headsets are available that allow us to create AR in our office or lounge rooms, such as the Microsoft Hololens or the Meta .

But AR headsets still suffer from several technical limitations, such as a reduced field of view. The software that lets the virtual and real worlds interact believably and naturally still needs work.

Sensing humans

Real-world Holodeck programs would also need the technology to sense human actions. This would provide useful information that the virtual personas inhabiting the Holodeck programs would use to anticipate our human intentions.

Progress here has been fast and constant, with great improvements in speech recognition and language translation, such as Apple’s Siri , Google’s Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana .

We now take almost for granted the ability to search for information with speech or to command our mobiles to schedule meetings and appointments. Other devices, originally conceived for entertainment applications, can track human gestures or even their full body posture.

For example, Microsoft Kinect can track a human body, and the technology is now included in the Hololens as its gesture-recognition component.

Lots of other sensing devices are now commonplace in mobile devices, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and temperature and pressure sensors.

The general trend is towards giving humans the ability to communicate using a combination of their body and their voice via hands-free or wearable user interfaces.

Enter the artificial intelligence

The key ingredient for Holodeck programs in the real world is the ability to equip virtual characters with sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence (AI).

AI and machine learning – the art of teaching a machine how to learn to perform a complex task – have seen advances in areas such as automated game playing , autonomous car driving and drone control , and deep learning .

These advances, while noteworthy, do not necessarily show strong progress towards general forms of artificial intelligence (AGI) exhibited by humans.

It has been argued that defining or providing general human intelligence may prove a very elusive problem for a long time, or indeed forever.

Fortunately, a restricted version of a Holodeck program may only require a slightly weaker, not fully general form of intelligence. This was exemplified by androids in the popular TV series reboot of Westworld .

Almost human? Close enough

The good news is that this may shorten the time needed to realise the hypothetical Holodeck programs. The bad news is that such a feat is still beyond us at this stage, although recent progress in machine learning will likely help us close the gap faster.

The question is then whether we shall ever be able to reach the level of sophistication in AR and AI needed to build a Holodeck? And if so, when?

Making predictions on such matters is not trivial, but I am inclined to think that current advances in VR and AR technologies will provide us with the required sophisticated headsets within the next five to ten years.

The question then is also whether we shall ever be able to achieve AR using alternative forms of projections that remove the need for a headset altogether.

This may be possible, eventually, but it would be irrelevant if headsets could be miniaturised and potentially implanted into human eyes, similar to what was suggested in other sci-fi classics such as Neuromancer or Snow Crash , and recently advocated by transhumanists .

The recent predictions about breakthroughs in general artificial intelligence by experts seem to converge around a date around 2040. This would put the sort of AI required for Holodeck characters somewhat earlier than that.

So I believe that one day humans will be able to experience some form of Holodeck similar to what was envisaged in Star Trek.

To paraphrase Star Teek’s infamous Borg alien race, I will say that resistance to this technological progress is futile and it will be assimilated, one day.

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69 holodeck stock photos & high-res pictures, browse 69  authentic holodeck  stock photos, high-res images, and pictures, or explore additional command center  or  hologram  stock images to find the right photo at the right size and resolution for your project..

FEATURE: HISTORY OF THE HOLODECK

By debra kaufman, august 12, 2019.

If you dream of your own holodeck—a room in which you can be transported to anywhere you desire via a realistic holographic computer-simulated environment—chances are you first made your acquaintance with it in a 1988 Star Trek: Next Generation episode, “The Big Goodbye,” where Captain Picard, Lieutenant Data and Dr. Beverly Crusher enter the 1940s San Francisco home of detective Dixon Hill. But the history of the holodeck predates that episode and has its roots in myth and science.

Imagine turning a room in your house into a portal to any place and any time. Visit a primeval jungle where the T-Rex roams. Fly into space and walk on the moon with Neil Armstrong or play tennis with Bjorn Borg in the 1980 Wimbledon final. If you can imagine it, the holodeck can make it happen.

The magic carpet appears in folk tales from around the world, making it arguably a staple of global human culture. No surprise when, in 1950, noted sci-fi/fantasy author Ray Bradbury wrote “The Veldt,” a short story in which children could turn their nursery into any environment they wanted.

The science of holography, the technology enabling the holodeck, has a history as tantalizing as a fairy tale. The real science of holography began in 1960, when University of Michigan professors Emmet Leith, with Juris Upatnieks, created the first 3D hologram. ‍

That caught the attention of City College of New York professor Gene Dolgoff, who contacted Leith; the two developed a friendship. By 1964, Dolgoff, a self-described innovator in electronics, optics, holography and 3D imaging, with 65 patents to his name, had set up his own holography lab in New York. Computer pioneer Ivan Sutherland also imagined the display of the future, writing in 1965 that it “should serve as many senses as possible.” “The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter,” he said. “A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming such a display could literally be the ‘Wonderland into which Alice walked’.”

The intersection of scientific and sci-fi holograms took place when Dolgoff delivered a paper on holography at a conference in Czechoslovakia. In the audience was Melanie Toyofuku, who was fascinated by the paper and reached out to Dolgoff. She visited his lab in 1973 and then related what she’d learned about holography to her good friend Gene Roddenberry.

As recounted in this Star Trek fan site , Dolgoff said that Toyofuku brought Roddenberry to a meeting at a New York hotel where he had set up “a bunch of holograms and a laser.” “We spent the day looking at the holograms and going through the theory,” recalls Dolgoff. “I explained that you could not only use this as the basis to teleportation in the future, but you could make a holographic environment in which people could interact with the objects and the scenes. [Gene] was totally into it.” ‍

With the idea of holograms in the air, the sci-fi world was appropriately prepped for Star Trek ’s holodeck when it first appeared in “The Practical Joker,” a 1974 episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series . It was reborn in 1988 for Star Trek: Next Generation , where it periodically fulfilled plot points in numerous episodes. Star Trek fans have assembled a list of episodes in which the holodeck appears, and highlight Jean-Luc Picard’s quote that, “the holodeck has given us woodlands and ski slopes … figures that fight … and fictional characters with whom we can interact.”

OTOY Co-Founder/CEO Jules Urbach grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and dreaming about the holodeck. “It’s four walls, a ceiling and floor filled with holographic panels,” he says. “No matter what you create, you’re truly there. That’s a dream that many people in the visual effects world are really hoping for, and it’s come to fruition faster than [ Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry could have imagined.” Urbach has a personal connection to the holodeck as well: his best friend growing up was Roddenberry’s son Rod. His passion for Star Trek and the holodeck was also a guiding inspiration behind the founding of his company OTOY, pioneers of Academy Award-winning cloud graphics technology used by visual effects studios, artists, animators, designers, architects and engineers.

Last year, OTOY and Light Field Lab, manufacturers of holographic display panels, launched a partnership to pursue a shared vision: to create the holodeck. “When [Light Field Lab founder/chief executive] Jon [Karafin] founded Light Field Lab, he explained how holographic displays work, and I said, I’m in,” says Urbach. “I’ve been waiting for decades for someone to come up with a viable holographic panel.”

Urbach explained the path to the holodeck: “We have the technologies to perfectly scan these environments.” His company has expertise in not just rendering but CG capture. With holography, he continues, “we’ll get two-way communication, a true volumetric experience, with no glasses or headset to add friction to the experience.” He envisions the addition of kinesthetic cues with touch capabilities somewhere down the road. ‍

The holographic experience is not off in the distant future of Star Trek , Urbach believes. “I’ve experienced the Light Field Lab panels and it’s real,” he says. When LFL’s manufacture of holographic panels reaches scale, he adds, the cost will come down enough to bring real-world adoption. He predicts that theme parks and concerts will be the first to use holography. Although the ability to touch and feel holograms is further off in the future, says Urbach, “90 percent of the mind-blowing stuff is already achievable as the next step.” He knows where he wants to go on one of his first holographic trips: it is a mix of memory, childhood wonder, and awe-inspiring technology that evokes Roddenberry’s humanistic vision of the future “There will be incredible experiences,” he says. “Going up in the Mars Rover is on my wish list. But I want to visit the village in France where I grew up in the 1980s, which has been greatly changed. To be able to revisit deep childhood memories would be incredible. It’s something that, passionately, I would love to do.”

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Screen Rant

Star trek: 10 questions about the holodeck, answered.

The holodeck is a highly advanced virtual reality environment on board the Enterprise. We answer the 10 questions fans are always curious about.

In the ongoing debate between fans of Star Trek and Star Wars over which sci-fi giant is the superior franchise , a huge point in Star Trek ’s favor is the consistency of its fictitious science and technology. While Star Wars throws its audience curveballs like midichlorians and the Holdo Maneuver , Star Trek has kept its scientific lore intact for over half a century.

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One of the most curious pieces of futuristic tech in the franchise is the holodeck, a highly advanced virtual reality environment on board the Enterprise where literally anything can happen. Here are 10 questions about the Holodeck, answered.

What makes the holographic images feel solid?

The distinction between real-life virtual reality and the one that Enterprise crew members can immerse themselves in using the holodeck is that in real life, we can’t feel VR images to the touch and in the holodeck, they can. The holographic images are solid to the touch, and this is due to something called “holomatter.”

The holomatter usually disintegrates at the end of a holodeck simulation, although it has sometimes been shown to exist outside the confines of the holo-chamber, like when Wesley Crusher emerged from a simulation, visibly wet. Exactly how scientifically accurate the concept of “holomatter” is remains unclear.

Why is there an option to turn off the safety protocols?

In every holodeck, there is actually an option to turn off the safety protocols and remove everything that is keeping the user safe. One might wonder why such an option would exist, since surely nothing good can come from turning them off, save for, say, the thrill of being unprotected.

As disappointing as this answer is, it can be explained as a simple plot device. It’s a Chekov’s gun for the Star Trek narrative – if the safety protocols can be turned off, then at some point, someone needs to turn them off – and it allows the writers to escalate the tension.

Why are there safety protocols in the first place?

If one was wondering why the holodeck would have an installed option to switch off all the safety protocols, then one might also wonder why a virtual reality simulator needs safety protocols in the first place, but that might just be for the user’s peace of mind. You have to put yourself in the shoes of someone using a holodeck.

This isn’t just very realistic VR – it’s basically an entirely accurate recreation of real life. If you didn’t have the comfort of knowing that there was some kind of safety protocol keeping you out of danger, you might go stir crazy in there.

When did the Federation start equipping its ships with holodecks?

Every Federation ship includes at least one holodeck, but the Federation didn’t always equip its ships with holodecks. It was only in around the late 24th century (an era that it feels strange to refer to in the past tense) that they started installing holodecks on their ships.

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Depending on the size and purpose of each ship, they might include more than one holodeck, but one is the standard. The USS Discovery is shown to have had holographic technology on board in the 23rd century , but that was a rarity (again, referring to the distant future in the past tense feels odd).

Why do Federation starships even need holodecks?

While having a holodeck on board the Enterprise is unquestionably useful in coming up with story ideas, what is its actual purpose on Federation starships and in other Starfleet establishments? Well, it can be used by space-faring Federation crew members for a number of different reasons.

It can be used for training exercises (a little like the Danger Room in X-Men comics ), recreations of crime scenes for investigative purposes, and entertainment – because let’s face it, even in the distant future aboard a starship drifting through space, people still need to be entertained. It can also be used for therapeutic reasons, like Tony Stark’s B.A.R.F. tech .

How did the holodeck’s simulation of Moriarty gain a consciousness?

While playing a holodeck game based on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Geordi La Forge complained that since Date had read all the Holmes stories, he always knew who the culprit was, so he told the holodeck to create a villain that even Data couldn’t defeat .

La Forge meant he wanted the holodeck to create an adversary for Holmes that Data would not be able to defeat in the game, but since he specified Data, the holodeck created a version of James Moriarty that was self-aware . This was because La Forge told the holodeck to simulate a villain for Data, a real person.

What is the holodeck’s full name?

Although it is the most common name for the device, a holodeck is not technically called a holodeck. Its full name is “Holographic Environment Simulator.” Calling it a “holodeck” is like calling a refrigerator a “fridge” or calling a television set a “TV” – it’s just a shorter name for it that’s easier to say and saves the speaker some time.

It’s fair to say that the holodeck wouldn’t be nearly as iconic or memorable in science fiction lore if it was only ever referred to as the “Holographic Environment Simulator.” Of course, the actual technology would still be just as impressive and awe-inspiring.

What are the different modes of using the holodeck?

There are two different modes of using the holodeck: one in which the user is actually inside the holodeck, experiencing the VR simulation first-hand, and another in which the user observes a simulation from a viewing platform without actually getting involved.

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The latter mode is, by far, the least used one, since the former would obviously be the most fun and immersive. Most users of the holodeck are there to live out their most outlandish or depraved fantasies, so if they had the option to live it over merely watching it from a distance, they would obviously choose to live it.

Are there limitations to what the holodeck can simulate?

The only limitation to the holographic technology of the holodeck is the user’s imagination. As long as the imagination is there, the sky’s the limit. Whatever needs to be simulated for a training procedure or an investigation or simply for personal enjoyment, the holodeck has got you covered.

The writers of the Star Trek franchise have used this to terrific effect in terms of storytelling , as the holodeck can be used to visualize what would otherwise be a character’s internal conflict or struggle. Plus, when holodeck technology goes awry, it can lead to some pretty spooky cautionary tales, which is what Star Trek was all about in the beginning .

Could technology like the holodeck exist in real life?

Before introducing the holodeck into the Star Trek universe, Gene Roddenberry met with inventor Gene Dolgoff, owner of a holography laboratory, so there is some basis in real science . While holograms have existed in the real world since the late 20th century and virtual reality technology and augmented reality glasses already exist , we don’t have the deeply immersive holodeck technology that Star Trek predicted would be on all of Earth’s starships by the 24th century (although that’s fair enough, because the 24th century is still a long way away).

Scientists have estimated that, if a holodeck could ever exist, without the use of glasses and with the feeling of solid matter on holograph imagery, it’s hundreds of years away.

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The Star Trek: Discovery Holodeck Experience

Sandbox VR will begin rolling out the first 'Star Trek' Holodeck free-roam VR experience.

Later this year, Sandbox VR will introduce the first Star Trek Holodeck VR experience based on Star Trek: Discovery, the Star Trek: Discovery Away Mission.

Star Trek: Discovery streams exclusively on CBS All Access in the United States and is distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s Space Channel and OTT service Crave.

Fantasy Science Pt. 20: How Do STAR TREK’s Holodecks Work?

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Radha has a PhD in theoretical quantum physics. Apart from…

Force fields. Holography. Augmented reality. Have you heard terms like these flying around the science fiction sections of the film/TV world? Have you ever wondered just how accurately these films portray real science? Well, my friends, today is your lucky day: this column,  Fantasy Science & Coffee ,  aims to bridge the gap between science and science fiction in films and popular culture. My hope is to explain things in a fun way – like we’re chatting over coffee.

You may be thinking: who is this person, why does she think she can explain science, and why the  heck  would I want to have coffee with her? Well, I’m Radha, a researcher in India, who recently submitted a PhD thesis in theoretical quantum physics. I quite like hot beverages. I’ll also pay.

In this twentieth part of the series published on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month, we are going to look at how Star Trek’s iconic holodecks work!

Holodecks in Star Trek

If you’re an avid reader of fiction, you likely enjoy the feeling of diving into a different world to get away from real life. In Star Trek, this is literally possible with holodeck technology. It’s one of my favourite narrative tools in the Trek universe, because there’s so much story potential: it can be used for recreational storylines, for serious training through realistic simulations, or even for alien encounters such as those with photonic beings in Voyager .

Holodecks are used to create very realistic environments that one can interact with tangibly. Here’s a clip from The Next Generation in which Data introduces Commander Riker to the holodeck:

In order to generate these complete, fictional worlds, holodecks make use of programs. Human holograms can be programmed to be as complex as real humans, responding to people based on their programmed characteristics. Creating these programs is an art, akin to present day publishing; one of the coolest concepts in Voyager is the holonovel.

Captain Kathryn Janeway, in order to deal with the stress of being a captain, often turns to the holodeck to unwind. In a few episodes, she takes part in a holonovel, in which she becomes a Jane Eyre-esue governess for a rich man with two children.

Later in the Voyager series, Lieutenant Tom Paris creates the Scottish township of Fair Haven, as a place for the crew to unwind. He prides himself on the detail he put into everything, including the holographic townsfolk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqkFbxBbus4&t=4s

What makes the holodeck truly remarkable is that despite being a moderately sized room, two people do not have to visit the same place in the fictional world. If Tom Paris wants to visit Fair Haven’s seaside, and Harry Kim wants to explore the castle on the hills near the village, they can do so simultaneously. They can be kilometers apart, but do not run into each other, nor the room’s walls. They cannot, however, access two different holodeck programs simultaneously; only one is allowed to run at a time.

What makes the show creators’ holodeck idea even more remarkable, is that there’s a very realistic explanation behind holodecks: its science is explained in the Voyager Technical Manual.

The technology is based on two concepts: 1) holographic imagery with force fields to project illusions for the human participant, and 2) replicator technology (the matter conversion subsystem) to convert energy to matter so that participants can actually feel the things they touch.

Brief Overview: Force Fields

Let’s take a look at the first concept. One can think of a force field as a map of how a force acts on a particle at each point within a certain space. For instance, the force fields generated by the holodeck are confined to within its walls, thus they do not have any influence beyond that room.

A force field is represented by curved or warped lines, to show just how the force acts along those paths. As an example, look at the magnetic field lines around a theoretical magnet (on the left).  The arrows indicate the direction along which the force acts for each point on that path.

We can physically see this with iron fillings scattered over a real magnet (on the right). The magnetic field acts on them and arranges them in a way that we can actually see the field lines!

How Holodecks Work

Now that we have force fields down pat, let’s look at how the holodeck creates a tangible environment. This image, taken from Voyager’s technical manual, provides a nice explanation about how holodeck technology works:

The force fields, along with the replicator technology, constantly adapt to give a human participant the feeling of moving through space, without her actually moving very far, in much the same way a treadmill does. Rather than the participant moving around the room, the imagery provided by the holographic projectors warp to give her the visuals she expects to see, and the ground under her feet continuously replicates to make her feel like she’s walking.

A good example of this constant adaptation is when B’Elanna Torres goes skydiving in the Voyager episode “Extreme Risk”. When she jumps, the force fields compensate, giving her the feel of rapid free fall of hundreds of kilometers.

She prematurely ends the program before hitting the ‘ground’. It’s seen that she had been hovering a few feet above the floor of the holodeck all along. The holodeck safety controls soften her landing.

Real Life Tech

While we are far from being able to create tangible objects the way Star Trek’s replicator technology does, interesting strides have been made towards immersive virtual experiences. You may be familiar with the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset. Another really cool technology is that of augmented reality, which Pokemon Go players are familiar with, since a particular mode allows Pokemon to appear as though they are in one’s own surroundings. One of my favourites is Quartz’s iPhone app . I low key hung out with the Lunar Rover recently thanks to this app!

The extent of today’s technology, and the interesting strides in research and development are a tad long to be addressed here, so I’ll save those for a later date. Instead, I’ve linked below to a few interesting resources you may like to explore.

Before you leave, however, I have a question for the bibliophiles out there: which novel would you love to see converted to a holonovel?

More to Explore

The Telegraph: Amazon to ‘revolutionise’ shopping with ‘virtual changing room’ app (2019)

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BBC: How Spatial and augmented reality could change work (2019)

TrekMovie: Roddenberry Entertainment Joins Project To Build Real Star Trek-like Holodeck (2018)

Variety: A First Look at Light Field Lab’s Futuristic Holographic Display (2018)

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Radha has a PhD in theoretical quantum physics. Apart from research, she consults on sci-fi screenplays/books. In her free time, she cosplays and irritates her three cats. Bug her on Twitter: @RadhaPyari

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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The holodeck of a Galaxy class starship.

A holosuite on Deep Space 9 .

A holodeck is a room, usually on a starship, that is made up of a hologrid that enable holographic projections to be created inside the room. Similar areas on a space station or planetary surface are referred to as holosuites . ( TNG episode : " Encounter at Farpoint ", DS9 episode : " Emissary ")

• 1.1 Technology
• 1.2 History
• 2 Holographic businesses
• 3.1 External links

History and specifications [ ]

Technology [ ].

Prior to the 2370s , holodecks installed aboard Federation starships produced objects that users could manipulate using simple holograms and force fields . In the 2370s, engineers had enhanced the holodeck to replicate an item when a user wanted to manipulate it, so that it would feel as real as possible. [ citation needed ]

However, when the objects weren't being manipulated, the replicated item would be removed and it would be produced with holograms and force fields again. A replicated object would also revert to a hologram if it was to be used as a weapon, such as a sword. ( TNG eBook : A Sea of Troubles )

Cortical induction technology was used as part of early holodeck technology. ( DS9 novel : Warped )

In an alternate timeline where Montgomery Scott went back in time to rescue James T. Kirk before his absorption into the Nexus , Scott and Geordi La Forge altered the holodeck aboard the USS Enterprise -D to route the holographic imaging output to the ship's external deflector shield system, projecting a sensor image; although the ship would not visually change, it was sufficient to distract the Borg long enough to return Kirk to the Nexus and return the timeline to normal. ( ST novel : Engines of Destiny )

History [ ]

The origins of the holodeck go back to the beginning of humanity's mission into space. In 2151 , the Enterprise encountered a Xyrillian vessel that had encountered engine problems. While aboard the Xyrillian ship, the Enterprise crew discovered a holographic chamber aboard which enabled the Xyrillians to program any environment they desired. A holographic chamber was later installed aboard a Klingon battle cruiser as a bargain for the Xyrillians' lives. ( ENT episode : " Unexpected ")

One of the key aspects of the creation of the Federation 's own holodeck systems was work done by Doctor Caroline Ravenwood who made a breakthrough in psychotherapuetic engineering which was in turn responsible for the creation of the holodecks. This work resulted in her being awarded the Cochrane Medal and allowed Holodecks to be used throughout the Federation as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of mental disorders as well as for instructional and even entertainment purposes. ( FASA RPG module : Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual )

Even before Ravenwood, by the late 23rd century , Starfleet had achieved a level of holographic projection technology. Rec rooms aboard Constitution -class and Crossfield -class starships came equipped with basic holographic projectors, although immersive simulations were not yet a capability. ( DSC episode : " Lethe "; TAS episode : " The Practical Joker "; TOS comics : " The Final Voyage ", " Mortal Gods ")

By the 2290s decade , upgrades of projectors were underway at other orbital and terrestrial facilities, such as a test model where James T. Kirk recreated his ill-fated, final USS Farragut mission. With much the same hindsight after facing the Kobayashi Maru scenario , Kirk was absorbed with finding out how differently the consequences of his actions may have been. The computer simulated the best estimate had he not hesitated at Captain Garrovick 's order. The resulting destruction of the starship with all hands, with himself and Ensign Drake stranded on the planet surface, protected only by phasers . ( TOS comic : " The Ashes of Eden ")

By the year 2373 , the Vulcan government had installed a variation of the holodeck in their detention facilities. Once a prisoner was placed inside the holocell, the environment changed to match the meditation gardens outside the Surak Memorial . ( TOS novel : Avenger )

Holographic businesses [ ]

• Arg's Tango Parlor and Holosuite Emporium
• Quark's Bar, Grill, Embassy, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade

Appendices [ ]

External links [ ].

• Holodeck article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Holodeck article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 The Chase
• 3 Preserver (race)

• VisualEditor
• View history

A 25th century Federation holodeck

A simpler 23rd century holodeck

A Holodeck or Holosuite is a room specifically equipped with holographic emitters capable of projecting photons and force fields to create the physical illusion of matter. As such they can simulate an object, environment or narrative scenario in a completely immersive environment. They are also capable of creating sentient Photonic beings.

Holodecks became common on Federation starships in the 24th century to provide training and entertainment. Their more primitive fore bearers date back to at least the 23rd century.

• 1 Locations
• 4 External links

Locations [ | ]

• Deep Space 9 (referenced but not on map)
• Dominion Facility
• Klingon Academy
• Kyana Research Station
• Player starship
• Starfleet Academy (23rd Century)
• U.S.S. Hofmann
• U.S.S. Madison

Programs [ | ]

• Advanced phaser training
• The Adventures of Captain Proton
• Alteration Alpha
• Alteration Beta
• Alteration Gamma
• Barclay-42-Epsilon
• Papa Sierra One
• Vic Fontaine
• Vulcan Love Slave

Some factions will play certain missions in holodeck simulations. Namely, Age of Discovery missions in the 2250s are, for non- DSC Starfleet captains, just simulations. Also, all pre- Gamma Quadrant missions for Dominion characters are in the holodeck. The below missions are examples of simulations for all players.

• Arena of Sompek
• Defense of Starbase One
• Kobayashi Maru

See also [ | ]

• Mobile emitter
• Holonovel Code Fragment

External links [ | ]

• Holodeck at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Holodeck at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
• 1 Playable starship
• 3 Infinity Prize Pack - T6 Ship

Star Trek Introduced the Holodeck YEARS Before The Next Generation

Holodecks became part of the mainstream imagination thanks to Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the idea happened long before Captain Picard.

Sometimes original ideas aren’t always that original. While Star Trek has always taken great strides to incorporate new concepts into every film and TV show, one of its most iconic creations is actually much older than many fans think. As Star Trek: The Next Generation took root in the homes and hearts of sci-fi fans, one of its signature elements many people thought was new, had actually been seen before -- the holodeck.

The Enterprise-D 's most talked-about feature was the crew's recreational holodeck, a virtual environment capable of creating and mimicking almost any place and time in history. The holodeck encouraged limitless creations, considering people could transport themselves into an abyss of possibilities without ever leaving the room.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Bested TOS's Deadliest Villain By Stabbing Him With... Q?

Despite the holodeck's ability to operate near perfection, malfunctions were possible and provided good storylines for TNG 's writers. As the computer seemingly goes rogue by creating perilous situations, getting trapped inside was the core of most holodeck crises. But this idea didn’t originate with the Star Trek series lead by Captain Jean-Luc Picard . It was actually under his famous predecessor, Captain James T. Kirk.

During the early 1970s, Star Trek creator  Gene Roddenberry  spearheaded the short-lived  Star Trek: The Animated Series . The more adult-leaning cartoon followed the continuing adventures of the original Enterprise crew. The two-season run represented a midway point between the original TV show and plans for a live-action sequel series, eyed for later that decade.

While not in name, the holodeck's concept was first introduced in  The Animated Series ' second season with the 1974 episode "The Practical Joker." The main Enterprise computer (malfunctioning after the ship was attacked by Romulans) plays a game of cat and mouse with the crew. The practical jokes become increasingly dangerous, with the computer even trying to gas everyone with nitrous oxide. At one point, Dr. McCoy, Lt. Uhura and Helmsman Sulu -- unaware there is a problem -- venture off to enjoy some downtime in the Rec Room, a place capable of synthesizing the natural world just like the holodeck.

RELATED: Star Trek: William Riker Only Exists Because of Q Interference

When the trio starts what they think will be a virtual forest, they quickly find themselves trapped inside amid a swirling mix of freezing wind and rain The main entrance, now frozen shut, needs to be pried open from the outside. But power tools won’t work because of the computer's interference. It forces the rescuers to use the low-tech, old-fashioned pry bar to work the doors.

When it seems hopeless for the trapped crew in the arctic environment, Bones urges the others to "…go on without me, my old legs have given out." Just as it seems the computer is about to cause the doctor's death from exposure, the surroundings suddenly melt away into a giant hedge maze. It’s then, the doors get open, and the crew manages to escape. The "Rec Room" malfunction was a great idea that would take more than a decade to rematerialize.

Star Trek: The Next Generation did an amazing job establishing the holodeck as an endless wonderland and potentially menacing place, where almost anything is possible. With episodes like “Elementary, Dear Data” or the gangster-themed “The Big Goodbye,” the Picard-led series kicked open the creative doors for the holodeck's many possibilities. However, it is worth noting that the technology appeared more than a decade earlier in  Star Trek: The Animated Series .

KEEP READING: Star Trek: Spock and Uhura Almost Hooked Up WAY Before the Reboot

Den of Geek

Best Geeky Zoom Backgrounds for Virtual Meetings

Using Zoom can be much more fun than your average conference call. Here are some great geeky backgrounds for your next virtual meeting.

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The spread of the coronavirus has forced many people to work from home and communicate via virtual meetings on Zoom and other free video conferencing services . While it turns out that virtual meetings are about as exciting as real-life meetings ( unless you’re planning to play games with your friends ), Zoom does offer one amusing advantage that makes them more exciting: customizable virtual backgrounds.

As far as the Zoom backgrounds available, there are tons of great ones to choose from, including more than a few backgrounds based on your favorite shows and movies. It’s actually possible to upload just about any background you want, but to get you started, we’ve highlighted some of the best geeky backgrounds that we’ve found around the internet.

Before we dive into the background, here’s a quick breakdown on how to upload a custom background image to Zoom:

• Go to the Zoom app’s settings menu.
• Choose the Virtual Background option on the left.
• Click on the Plus icon on the right side of “Choose Virtual Background”
• Upload your desired background image file from your device.

You can also swap between background images by clicking that Plus symbol again and choosing another background image file. Now, here are the best nerdy backgrounds we’ve found so far:

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Game of Thrones, Westworld, and More From HBO

HBO got in on the Zoom background game fairly early on with this collection of favorites from the premium network. The Silicon Valley and Sharp Objects backgrounds are surprisingly subtle and all-around awesome, but nobody is going to blame you if you choose to sit on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones .

It’s slightly disappointing that HBO didn’t dive deeper into its catalog for these official backgrounds, but you can always make a custom image that lets you address your co-workers from the front of a New Jersey pork store or the Gem saloon.

Download HBO Zoom Backgrounds Here

The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and the Pixar Collection

The Pixar collection is not only instantly recognizable, but the crystal clear visuals of the best Pixar movies happen to make them the perfect candidates for Zoom backgrounds.

Thankfully, Pixar has already posted an official collection of backgrounds for your amusement. You can’t go wrong with The Incredibles background , and the Toy Story cloud wall background also works shockingly well for just about any situation.

Just be careful using that Up background. Times are tough enough without having to remind people of that movie’s opening minutes.

Download Pixar Zoom Backgrounds Here

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The Simpsons, Family Guy, and the Rest of the Fox Animated Lineup

Few networks have access to as many iconic animated series as Fox does, so we were thrilled to find that the Fox team has sent out some quality official images for your custom background.

The Simpsons couch is an obvious winner here that just about everyone will be able to appreciate, but we’ve got to send some love to those Bob’s Burger backgrounds. It’s just a shame you can’t change the name of the daily special on the chalkboard.

If only there were background images devoted to the many cancelled Fox series over the years. We need some Fastlane back in our lives.

Download Fox Zoom Backgrounds Here

DC Comics Is Offering Everything Awesome

We’re not going to get into a whole DC/Marvel thing right now, but we’ve got to give a special shout out to DC for offering some of the best looking official Zoom background images of any major company.

These animated stills are not only stunningly well-drawn, but they offer a variety of creative background scenarios that will instantly set you apart from your Zoom friends. I mean, just take a look at that awesome Gotham by Gaslight -style background. You also have to love the Fortress of Solitude options, which not only look great but are oddly appropriate right now.

Download DC Comics Zoom Backgrounds Here

Marvel Lets You Zoom into the MCU

Not to be outdone by the competition, Marvel posted a few official Zoom backgrounds on its website that offer you the chance to sit in front of a few different corners of the Marvel universe.

The bulk of these selections feature the MCU films, which is honestly pretty hard to complain about. Granted, it’s a limited selection of options, but the fact you get a few options from the colorful Thor: Ragnarok is good enough for now.

The two comic-style options are also pretty great, but we need some quality X-Men backgrounds ASAP.

Download Marvel Zoom Backgrounds Here

Star Wars Millenium Falcon (and Pretty Much Everything Else)

Since it doesn’t seem like the Star Wars team has entered the Zoom backgrounds arena yet, you’re left relying on the many fan-made backgrounds that have already been created.

We’re particularly fond of the Millenium Falcon image you see above, which is not only clean and recognizable but also feels natural for conferencing purposes. We also highly recommend finding a way to put yourself in the Jedi High Council room or Emperor’s throne room. The cockpit of the Millennium Falcon is another good one.

Download Star Wars Millennium Falcon Zoom Background Here

Star Trek Options for Every Generation

At the risk of playing favorites, few series lend themselves quite as well to awesome Zoom backgrounds as Star Trek does.

From official collections that transport you o the world of Picard to unofficial options that take you to the original Enterprise bridge and Next Generation holodeck, the wealth of Star Trek backgrounds out there highlights the franchise’s incredible futuristic visuals and creativity.

Now, if someone could find a way to put us on the Enterprise video screen with the captain looking at us from the foreground, we’d be eternally grateful.

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Download Star Trek Zoom Backgrounds Here

The Power Rangers Are Here to Mightily Morph Your Zoom Background

We shouldn’t be surprised that the Power Rangers have our back during these difficult times, but this official selection of themed Zoom backgrounds is still very much welcome.

This wave of official options mostly focuses on the old-school Power Rangers series, but since we all know that original Power Rangers are the best Power Rangers, you should be able to find something that you love.

We kid, folks. We kid because we love.

Download Power Rangers Zoom Backgrounds Here

The Office Offers a Pretty Much Perfect Background

There’s actually quite a few Office -related Zoom backgrounds out there, but it’s hard to do better than this one.

The iconic interview background from The Office is not only an incredibly clever background for Zoom meetings, but it’s honestly one of the few that you could probably get away with using in an official capacity.

It’s that blend of nerdy and professional that you just have to love.

Download The Office Zoom Background Here

The Good Place Is Here with a Slightly Too Accurate Background

Much like The Office , there’s no shortage of Zoom backgrounds from The Good Place . However, in our hearts and minds, there’s really one option that stands apart from the rest.

That “Welcome! Everything is fine” background is one of the best we’ve seen for the current moment in our history. This one is so accurate and perfect that you might actually want to be careful with how you use it.

Download The Good Place Zoom Backgrounds Here

A Pee Wee’s Playhouse Background for These Tough Times

There are a few things we really love about this Pee Wee’s Playhouse theme. First off, it’s actually pretty well-framed for this format, which is always a subtle plus. It also features quite a few callbacks in a relatively small amount of space which, again, is a bonus for easter egg lovers. It’s also a wholesome and colorful reminder of childhood that will surely put a smile on anyone’s face.

Download Pee Wee’s Playhouse Zoom Background Here

Twin Peaks Offers a Background Strange Enough for Reality

We live in some pretty strange times, so it only makes sense that you might turn to a background that’s just as strange.

While we fully support any references to Twin Peaks , there’s something to be said for the strange serenity of these red room backgrounds. They’re subtle enough to fool anyone not in the know but recognizable enough to be easily spotted by the Twin Peaks crowd out there .

The only thing better would be you sitting on a couch that Bob is menacingly crawling over. Actually…could someone get on that?

Download Twin Peaks Zoom Backgrounds Here

Archer Backgrounds for When You Want to Be a Spy

For all of your espionage needs, why not download FX’s new Archer Zoom backgrounds that transport you straight into the office of the International Secret Intelligence Service? It’s perfect for strategy meetings or simply for some high-level office gossip. Just remember to clean up your desk at the end of the day. Leaving a mess is how you get ants.

Matthew Byrd | @SilverTuna014

Matthew Byrd is Games Editor at Den of Geek and an entertainment enthusiast living in Brooklyn. When he's not exploring the culture of video games, he's…

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How Strange New Worlds' Use Of The Volume Echoes Star Trek's Holodeck [Exclusive]

This post contains  spoilers for the season 2 "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode, "Ad Astra per Aspera."

The technology is improving. 

Back in December of 2021, /Film posted an article about AR or Augmented Reality technology that was employed by the makers of "Star Trek: Discovery." AR is essentially an advanced version of rear-projection technology, wherein actors stand in front of a screen to supplement their environment. Unlike the old days, however, where an actual 35mm projector would project pre-recorded footage onto a screen behind an actor while they acted in a scene, AR backgrounds are elaborate LED screens that can adjust as filming commences in real-time. A background will be pre-rendered on a computer and then broadcast onto a wall-sized screen. The movements of the camera are then tied into the pre-rendered background, and the scenery will shift itself depending on where the camera moves. 

The actors can move around in the prerequisite stage space and while the cameras follow them, the scenery shifts to and fro. It can be disorienting for an actor, but it looks more dynamic than a locked-down backdrop painting. It's also a lot faster than shooting an actor on a green screen and rendering a digital background after the fact.

/Film's own Danielle Ryan recently spoke to Valerie Weiss , the director of the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode "Ad Astra per Aspera," and it seems that the newer show is also using AR walls for its backgrounds, although the process is clearly a lot more streamlined in 2023; apart from the Enterprise's mess hall and an office building on the distant planet of Illyria, all of the sets were virtual. One can barely tell. 

Ryan and Weiss talked about working with AR tech — virtual soundstages are called volumes — and how it very much resembles Trek's own holodeck technology. 

Valerie Weiss wanted to point out that there were still some actual sets involved on "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," and that shooting on location is hardly forbidden. But for the most part, sets are built in the volume (tables, chairs, desks, etc.), while the walls are virtual. Weiss, it seems, rather enjoys the new technology, and has fun shooting with it. She said: 

"We actually also shot on location as well. So the Illyrian Colony, where Pike goes to visit Neera to solicit her help, is a location in Toronto. And then everything's a set except for the mess hall, that's on the volume. And it's so much fun to shoot that shoot on the volume. It's just you can do anything there, obviously. And it's also, you can work so much faster there because you're lighting basically from the walls, and so you don't have a lot of practical lights getting in the way of shots. So it's a very exciting process to work in the volume."

Ryan was quick to point out the similarities between a volume and a holodeck. Holodecks, as Trekkies all know, are rooms outfitted with holographic projectors that can simulate entire environments. Holodecks can also make furniture, props, and virtual people, so it's quite a way in the future from a volume, but the "simulated environment" part seems to have been nailed. Weiss added:

"[T]he courtroom, I think people know by now that I think it was the "Discovery" set. So Jonathan Lee, our brilliant production designer, converted that to be our courtroom. And I think ... there's a really great interview with him talking about how he did that and the choices he made for the gold relief background, and it's a lovely, lovely set."

More on the volume

According to the website Daily Trek News , the virtual background screens are manufactured by a company called Pixmondo. Pixmondo worked on Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," "Star Trek Into Darkness," and the recent "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." The AR wall is about 70 feet wide, 30 feet tall, and curves around the volume for about 270 degrees. The volume also has a moveable ceiling that can be equipped with an additional AR screen, or outfitted with practical lights. To Weiss' point, however, if the background wall is illuminated, then practical lights are going to be less necessary. 

The cameras, as mentioned, are outfitted with motion-tracking technology, allowing the background image to move according to its location. Faraway objects on the AR wall, for instance, will shift a small amount, while closer images move more quickly. The photographers on "Discovery" appreciate their convenience and speed. Video game players might compare it to the visual phenomenon of parallax scrolling.

Other shows also use the volume, notably the hit Disney+ show "The Mandalorian." That show's cinematographer Grieg Fraser, once spoke extensively about AR walls with American Cinematographer Magazine , pointing to how well it works and how it is visually superior to both rear-screen projection and green-screen soundstages. There is no rendering after the fact when shooting in a volume. This, it seems, is the future of sci-fi TV. 

No word yet as to whether or not we can create an artificially intelligent Moriarty , though. 

Giant Freakin Robot

Star Trek Holodeck Brought To Life To Train Robots

Posted: April 17, 2024 | Last updated: April 18, 2024

Trekkies the world over fondly remember the Star Trek Holodeck, the series mainstay that functions, for so many, as a pinnacle of imaginative technology. As we all recall, the Holodeck enables crew members to interact with dynamically generated environments–for leisure or training. Paying homage to this sci-fi staple, a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has fashioned a modern twist on the vintage concept, albeit to train robots and not human voyagers. 

A Huge Step In The Development Of Star Trek-Like Holodecks

First, to disappoint any die-hard Trekkies hankering for the real thing, let’s get this out of the way: the system does not actually recreate the full sensory and interactive experience we associate with the Star Trek Holodeck. Dry your eyes though, because the tech does provide a significant leap forward in the realm of artificial intelligence. Indeed, in an era in which robotics and AI are increasingly important, a tool such as this, improving the degree to which robots engage with and learn from virtual environments, is vital. 

AI Models Replicate Any Environment

So, although it’s not yet capable of letting humans spar with holographic baddies or take strolls through historical simulations, the system is the closest we’ll probably come to the Star Trek Holodeck. That said, this sophisticated platform’s ability to train robots in diverse settings should make up for any dashed fantasies on behalf of Trekkies. 

We can all thank the esteemed Penn Engineering team and several collaborators for the real-life sci-fi creation, which interestingly employs a large language AI model many associate with conversational AI like ChatGPT. Users may convey any desired 3D environment with words alone through this large language model.

Streamlining The Process

Once this process commences, the AI processes the verbal directive, thereby assembling the setting, piece by piece. How? By accessing a massive digital repository storing millions of premade objects. Gone are the days when engendering environments suitable for robotic training required up to a week. Now, the system so closely resembling a Star Trek Holodeck streamlines the process, enabling quickfire and multifaceted scenario generation. 

Simply put, creating suitable environments quickly is a game changer in preparing robots to navigate and interact productively with unfamiliar spaces. 

Replicates The Environment Better Than Previous Technology

If, for example, you ask the technology to produce an apartment ideal for a cat owner, it will return a room sporting a cat tree and other logically arranged cat-friendly furnishings.

The system has also been dramatically pitted against an earlier rival technology, dubbed ProcTHOR. Researchers conducted blind tests, requesting that students choose their preferred environments from sets derived from both systems. Trekkies will be happy to know that the clone of Star Trek’s Holodeck routinely bested its competitor. 

How It’s Being Used In The Real World

On a serious and more general note, robots benefiting from training in these environments demonstrate a significant uptick in their capacity for navigating environments and selecting objects relevant to their assigned tasks. 

This means, of course, that the implications for robotics introduced by this system are profound. First, robotics applied to more pedestrian residential or commercial spaces will gain a sizable edge. Second, this system, straight out of sci-fi, paves the way for training robots to guide themselves through underwater ruins, across the surface of distant planets, or even function in emergency scenarios and hazardous environments. 

Hopefully, Captain Kirk would approve of this close approximation to the Star Trek Holodeck. 

Source: IFLScience

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