franchise-star-trek-tng-technical-manual1

13.7 HOLOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT SIMULATORSSince before the first satellite launches within the Solsystem, fiction writers and engineers alike assumed that longdurationspace flights would require certain measures to keepthe travelers happy and psychologically fit for continued duty.During the first Earth orbital and lunar landing missions, crewmembers listened to cassette tapes of their favorite music,and flight controllers periodically passed up capsule versionsof the daily newspapers of the day. Documentation and videorecordings were routinely transmitted to orbital stations andplanetary outposts into the early part of the twenty-first century.The desire to experience images, sounds, and tactilestimuli not normally encountered on a space vessel hasfollowed explorers across the galaxy for the last four hundredyears. Computer-driven projection imagery has filled starshipcrews' needs for provocative spaces and, with the addition ofcertain sport and recreational gear, provided an enjoyablemodel of reality. Various holographic optical and acoustictechniques were applied through the years, finally giving wayto a series of breakthroughs in small forcefield and imagingdevices that not only did not seriously impact starship massand volume constraints, but actually nurtured hyperrealistic,flight-critical simulations. In the last thirty years, the starshipHolodeck has come into its own.The Holodeck utilizes two main subsystems, the holographicimagery subsystem and the matter conversion subsystem.The holographic imagery subsection creates therealistic background environments. The matter conversionsubsystem creates physical "props" from the starship's centralraw matter supplies. Under normal conditions, a participantin a Holodeck simulation should not be able to detectdifferences between a real object and a simulated one.The Holodeck also generates remarkably lifelike recreationsof humanoids or other lifeforms. Such animated charactersare composed of solid matter arranged by transporterbasedreplicators and manipulated by highly articulatedcomputer-driven tractor beams. The results are exceptionallyrealistic "puppets," which exhibit behaviors almost exactly likethose of living beings, depending on software limits. Transporter-basedmatter replication is, of course, incapable ofduplicating an actual living being.Objects created on the Holodeck that are pure holographicimages cannot be removed from the Holodeck, evenif they appear to possess physical reality because of thefocused forcebeam imagery. Objects created by replicatormatter conversion do have physical reality and can indeed beremoved from the Holodeck, even though they will no longerbe under computer control.Matter conversion subsystem creates physicalprops using replicators. Replicated props aregenerally created when an object is likely tobe touched by the participant. Some props areanimated under computer control by precisionguidedtractor beams.Holographic imagery subsystem createsthree-dimensional images of simulatedenvironments. Shaped forcebeams givephysical substance to foreground objectsso they have the illusion of being solid.Substrate forcefield creates "treadmill" effect, permitting participant to remain stationary whilethe simulated environment "scrolls" by, within the limits of the simulation program.13.7.1 Holographic environment simulator system