One of my least favourite story devices in Star Trek is the holodeck and in my opinion some of the worst episodes stem from this piece of tech.
What’s the tech?
According to Wikipedia the holodeck is a room that can simulate objects and people through a combination of replicated matter, tractor beams, and shaped force fields onto which holographic images are projected. Sounds and smells are simulated by speakers and fragranced fluid atomizers, respectively. The feel of a large environment is simulated by suspending the participants on force fields which move with their feet, keeping them from reaching the walls of the room (a virtual treadmill).
Where’s it from?
The holodeck is featured on post Next Generation Star Trek shows, with the exception being Enterprise, although holograms were featured at times generally belonging to alien races.
Similar tech has been seen on Star Blazers and the X-Men’s Danger Room.
So what’s the problem?
Seriously, who is ever going outside again? Here is a device that can generally recreate any environment from a wide range of eras that appears to be completely real. You can go anywhere, be anyone and do anything.
“Um yeah, errrr work? I’m going to be sick today… cough”
Tourism goes through the floor, who wants to risk plane crashes, overthrown Governments and food poisoning when you can just pop into your holodeck and be anywhere and completely control the situation. Don’t like when the sun comes up, fine, reprogram the simulation, heck you don’t even need to know html you just tell the computer what to do!
But people want to experience the real thing, you may cry. Really? Have you seen people stuck in front of the television? Have you ever lost three hours in front of the Playstation? Now imagine that you can live as your favourite character? Imagine you can go to your happy place, for real.
Which brings us to ethical abuses of the system, several times on Star Trek people have discovered holodeck recreations of themselves and have understandably not been entirely flattered. It conjures up ideas of all sorts of ickyness that frankly I could do without.
Prank potential?
Think of the possibilities, your flat mate just ate the last jam filled donut which was clearly labelled yours in the fridge. They fall asleep, you have a holodeck and all the imagination in the world…
Related posts:
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
10 Responses to “Real people vs scifi tech: the holodeck”
Leave a Reply
I didn’t mind holodeck episodes. For a start it gave Worf his best ever line : “I am NOT a merry man”. and i also like the Data/Sherlock holmes thing – but I’m a sucker for Holmes.
Dan´s last blog ..The Good (and Bad) Life
LOL I hated both those episodes (there may have been more than one Sherlock Holmes related Data episode and I hated that too).
I really don’t know what it is about those episodes!
The holodeck eps were a bit meh to me, the holodeck was just an invention for when writers suffered space block I always thought.
“But Gene, I can’t think up a way to get the doctor into a dress!”
“Wait! Let’s make-believe with make-believe! Invent a holodeck and get those gals out of those hip hugging uniforms and into some Western skirts to bring out their inner hussy”
Jayne´s last blog ..I is sleepy….
That’s the impression I got from those episodes, a story device, although I really loved the episode that they used the holodeck to simulate the planet that they were evacuating some people who didn’t want to leave or couldn’t know that there were spacemen or something.
It was an effective use of the technology anyway, better than Riker hitting on girls.
it ís escapism unlimited, but I don’t mind the holodeck as long as it isn’t overused in episodes (which they did sometimes).
Somehow though, I think you will get bored if you live in the perfect world that you programmed (told the comp to make) just because everything’s just tóó perfect.
Arjan´s last blog ..Magnetized
The Generations/Nexus hypothesis.
I don’t know, I think there would be plenty of people who are ready to escape into the fantasy world. Something I didn’t mention was the whole recently passed loved ones situation, if you can simulate someone how many people would escape into the holodeck to handle their grief, it’s an interesting thought.
I think what made a lot of those Holodeck episodes weak was usually the conceit that the people involved got stuck in it or the safety protocols were shut off by some malfunction. The idea of the holodeck itself isn’t bad… though what I always imagine is it ends up being the place were single people get their rocks off… I am sure it ended up becoming a place where sex addiction was born for a number of people.
LOL I’m surprised that Riker EVER showed up for work
He was probably getting the real thing regularly anyway, so he wouldn’t need to use it that way.