Holodeck
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Image:Holodeck2.jpg In the Star Trek fictional universe, the holodeck is a simulated reality facility, generally on starships and starbases.
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Overview
Otherwise known as a holographic environment simulator, the holodeck is an enclosed room in which objects and people are simulated by a combination of replicated matter animated with weak tractor beams as well as shaped force fields onto which holographic images are projected. Sounds and smells are simulated by speakers and fragranced fluid atomizers. The feel of a large environment is simulated by having the participants suspended on force fields which move with their feet, keeping them in one place (a virtual treadmill); perspective is retained through use of sound dampening fields and graviton lenses which make objects, people and sound appear more distant. The effect is ultra-realistic simulation of environments, with which the user can interact.
Matter created on the holodeck requires the holoemitters to remain stable and will quickly disintegrate if it is removed from the holodeck - unless working with a mobile emitter.
According to the Starfleet Survival Manual, holomatter can be disrupted using an inverse photonic pulse from a phaser – which destroys the holomatter while leaving real matter unharmed. In theory, this could be used to escape a malfunctioning holodeck by repeatedly firing until the door is revealed. However, this never happened in any Star Trek episode.
User controls for a holodeck are typically located near its door (inside and out); an arch surrounds the exit and can be summoned by a user to start, modify, or stop a simulation. The holodeck includes safeguards known as safety protocols that attempt to protect the safety of the user or users. While it does not entirely shield users from minor injury (such as strained muscles or dislocated joints), it does prevent more serious injuries and fatalities. The protocols were designed so that users could derive maximum use from the holodeck with a high degree of realism and perceived jeopardy.
Personnel usage and malfunctions
Two of the main purposes of the holodeck are recreation and training. They are also sometimes used to recreate a crime or questionable incident to determine the forensics and logistics of it for law enforcement purposes. However, the technology is also used for morally questionable ends, as the holosuites owned and rented out, often for sexual purposes, by Quark on Deep Space Nine.
Holodecks are vulnerable when damage occurs to the computer controlling the holodeck. Malfunctions have at times resulted in the safety protocols being inadvertently disabled. Some malfunctions have also been known to trap users inside the holodeck. This resulted in the shooting of the ship's historian on board Enterprise in one instance, and several crew members were trapped. In another incident Lt. Worf, his son Alexander Rozhenko, and Counselor Troi were trapped in an 19th century American West adventure with the safety protocols disabled when a computer experiment involving Lt. Cmdr. Data went awry. Worf received a minor gunshot wound when the computer began remaking all the characters as replicas of Data. However he was able to safely play out the story, and once the story ended the trio was able to leave the holodeck.
Writing stories and plotlines for the holodeck is an activity pursued by people known as holodeck novelists, and it was the chosen profession of Lt. Tom Paris of the USS Voyager which he pursued when the ship finally returned from the Delta Quadrant in the show's finale.
Despite malfunctions, holodecks are a highly valued technology in Starfleet because of educational and recreational impact, enabling users to partake in scenarios that would otherwise be difficult to enact under normal circumstances.
Holosuites
A holosuite is another form of the holodeck used in Star Trek: Deep Space 9 that is not under Starfleet administration.
Holosuites are apparently private property and are rented out for private use. The programs to be used are either provided by the user or supplied by the owner and may be standard programmes or custom made (at a substantially higher price).
Since the Federation operates holodecks under its own rules, holosuites appear to be run by Ferengi businessmen such as Quark. However, in spite of this, the U.S.S. Enterprise-E contained at least one holosuite.
Despite not being under Starfleet administration, the holosuites appear to be bounded by the standard safety protocols used in starships and starbases, presumably as having your product severely damage or kill your customers is bad for business.
It is thought by some fans that holosuites are simply smaller holodecks, especially since the physical sets used when the hologrid is inactive are substantially smaller than those of holodecks. While the Enterprise-D maintained four holodecks, the Ster Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual suggested that there were twenty smaller facilities on board. These may have been holosuites that were simply not used during the series' run.
See also
- Artificial reality
- Mixed reality
- Augmented reality
- CAVE - Cave Automatic Virtual Environment
- Methods of virtual reality
- Narrative environment
- Simulated Reality
- Virtual retinal display
- Volumetric display