Will we ever have holodecks as dangerous as the ones on Star Trek?

[5billionof5billion]

I know with Next Generation, the holodeck acted once in a while and would try to kill someone and in one case succeeded and in Voyager a holodeck program acted up once. Will we ever get to the point in technology where they can malfunction and prove fateful to users? I know we have illumi-rooms now that are probably expensive where people can interact with dangerous snakes. If a person wanted to wrestle with an anaconda like Marlin Perkins did once they might be able to do that with one.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[SWHouston]

At this time, the best we can do is project color and intensity. And, until there is a technology where sustentative material can be projected as well, we're stuck with a light show.

 

[5billionof5billion]

Well here's a piece of treknology that I wish they would invent, and that's a food replicator. I hate the way they go overboard to protect those stupid bees because they benefit people by pollinating flowers by having a 10 k fine for anyone who kills a bee even if it's not a honeybee when there was a semi that had an accident that was carrying 20 million of them, which doesn't sound like they're endangered or dying out. How many bees does one planet need? The sooner they can invent food replicators and declare open season on them, the better. That way they'll be able to program a honey comb or honey into one; and if a person wants one bad enough, they can just ask for one and get it. The same goes for any other foods. Personally I believe the real reason Americans don't want bees killed is because it's their new national bird.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ Right, because f*** you, nature!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

NOT THE BEES!!! NOT THE BEES!!!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Well here's a piece of treknology that I wish they would invent, and that's a food replicator. I hate the way they go overboard to protect those stupid bees because they benefit people by pollinating flowers by having a 10 k fine for anyone who kills a bee even if it's not a honeybee when there was a semi that had an accident that was carrying 20 million of them, which doesn't sound like they're endangered or dying out. How many bees does one planet need? The sooner they can invent food replicators and declare open season on them, the better. That way they'll be able to program a honey comb or honey into one; and if a person wants one bad enough, they can just ask for one and get it. The same goes for any other foods. Personally I believe the real reason Americans don't want bees killed is because it's their new national bird.

That is a spectacularly bad idea. You should watch this. It's got cartoons.

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God bless

Just not the bees, apparently.

Or at least, not in your interpretation. OG God seems to think pretty highly of bees, however.

 

[SWHouston]

To Bee, or not to Bee.

 

[Go-Captain]

People can die from seizure, and all that takes is flashing lights of a rapid enough frequency. I'm sure a holodeck will lead to someone's death some day, even if it is as simple as someone walking out an open window, or tripping on a carelessly placed object.

 

[Nebusj]

That is a spectacularly bad idea. You should watch this. It's got cartoons.

I for one am shocked that a post which claims there's a 10,000 (something) fine for accidentally killing a bee might also contain a bad idea.

 

[Timewalker]

Well here's a piece of treknology that I wish they would invent, and that's a food replicator. I hate the way they go overboard to protect those stupid bees because they benefit people by pollinating flowers by having a 10 k fine for anyone who kills a bee even if it's not a honeybee when there was a semi that had an accident that was carrying 20 million of them, which doesn't sound like they're endangered or dying out. How many bees does one planet need? The sooner they can invent food replicators and declare open season on them, the better. That way they'll be able to program a honey comb or honey into one; and if a person wants one bad enough, they can just ask for one and get it. The same goes for any other foods. Personally I believe the real reason Americans don't want bees killed is because it's their new national bird.
God bless, Jason Irelan

Let me guess - you have either invested in the pesticide industry or you were once stung by a bee and therefore hate the entire species.

 

[uniderth]

I think any holodeck tech will be quite a ways off. However, an on demand lucid dreaming tech could happen far sooner. If there was a machine you could hook up to and then go right into a lucid dream I probably wouldn't care about a holodeck.

There would need to be some way of enhancing dream recall and maintaining control over the dream. Without this it would be pretty pointless as you wouldn't be able to remember your dream. The other way would be to just train your mind, but ain't no one got time fo dat.

It would require far less computing power. And if you could network these machines then you're on your way to Inception...or the Matrix.

 

[Timo]

It's less a technology issue than a marketing one. TNG holodecks kill people because that's what the people want: they specifically ask for safeties to be turned off, and the holodeck is good at reading people's desires and accommodating them, so it realizes the desire here is for the user to get seriously hurt. Would real-world VR entertainment be configured to do that? Certainly, if that sells. There'd just be waivers involved.

"Safeties off" would probably require installing and applying something deliberately dangerous, rather than just not actively caring about safety. But that's what lots of extreme sports today are based on already.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[5billionof5billion]

It's less a technology issue than a marketing one. TNG holodecks kill people because that's what the people want: they specifically ask for safeties to be turned off, and the holodeck is good at reading people's desires and accommodating them, so it realizes the desire here is for the user to get seriously hurt. Would real-world VR entertainment be configured to do that? Certainly, if that sells. There'd just be waivers involved.

"Safeties off" would probably require installing and applying something deliberately dangerous, rather than just not actively caring about safety. But that's what lots of extreme sports today are based on already.

Timo Saloniemi

They don't necessarily kill because that's what the people want. Remember in one of the early episodes where Picard was running one about Dixon Hill? That one guy fully expected the safety functions to work; but when he got shot, he found out that they weren't and wound up dying. There's also the one where Worf and Alexander were running a scenario in the town of Deadwood that ran a bunch of Datas because it had intercrossed with Data or something and the safety functions weren't working.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[5billionof5billion]

Let me guess - you have either invested in the pesticide industry or you were once stung by a bee and therefore hate the entire species.

Guess again. I've actually been stun more than once. I'm not saying I was stung by a swarm, but I would say I've been stung five times. I'll admit I deserved it the first time because I saw several bumblebees; and I was a toddler who was fascinated with insects at the time, so I decided to mess with them and see about catching one; and one landed on my arm; and she let me have it; but the other four were their fault. There was one time when I was outside playing and happened to brush up against a flower and got stung. There was one time I felt something land on the back of my neck and went to squish whatever it was and got stung; and there were two times I was picking up fruit in our yard because I had been told to; and I got stung on two occasions, once on my hand and once on my leg.

My main beef with the bees is that we have two many Africanized honeybees, and nobody's doing enough to get rid of them. They just say run or declare areas where they are a quarantine zone where nobody's allowed to go instead of wiping out as many as they can. If necessary, use nuclear weapons against them. They're the ones that are probably responsible for honeybees being in trouble if they are. I've already had the talk with the bug man and found out you won't get fined and put it jail if you get stung. You'll only get in trouble if you find a nest in your yard and spray it.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Kor]

Holodecks as depicted in the Trek universe are basically magic, from the standpoint of contemporary technology.

I think that it would be a huge leap from even today's cutting-edge holography to being able to (affordably) project full-size photo-realistic three-dimensional people and scenery. And tactile interaction is something else again.

For reference, here's some research on aerial three-dimensional imagery. Have fun:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648394/

If necessary, use nuclear weapons against them.

Um, okay.

Kor

 

[TwoJakes]

by having a 10 k fine for anyone who kills a bee

I must be a wanted man, I've kill more than a few in my life ... oops.

If we ever get holodecks similar to what was on the show I predict it will make crack and meth look like dry toast in comparison.

 

[Kor]

I killed a bee that somehow showed up out of nowhere inside my car while I was driving down the highway. It was either him or me, you know?

What is the exact legislation that makes it illegal to kill honey bees? That's right... there is none.

Kor

 

[Avro Arrow]

but the other four were their fault. There was one time when I was outside playing and happened to brush up against a flower and got stung. There was one time I felt something land on the back of my neck and went to squish whatever it was and got stung; and there were two times I was picking up fruit in our yard because I had been told to; and I got stung on two occasions, once on my hand and once on my leg.

Totally the bees' "fault"!

If necessary, use nuclear weapons against them.

This is just hyperbole, right? You aren't seriously suggesting this, correct?

 

[Timewalker]

Guess again. I've actually been stun more than once. I'm not saying I was stung by a swarm, but I would say I've been stung five times. I'll admit I deserved it the first time because I saw several bumblebees; and I was a toddler who was fascinated with insects at the time, so I decided to mess with them and see about catching one; and one landed on my arm; and she let me have it; but the other four were their fault. There was one time when I was outside playing and happened to brush up against a flower and got stung. There was one time I felt something land on the back of my neck and went to squish whatever it was and got stung; and there were two times I was picking up fruit in our yard because I had been told to; and I got stung on two occasions, once on my hand and once on my leg.

My main beef with the bees is that we have two many Africanized honeybees, and nobody's doing enough to get rid of them. They just say run or declare areas where they are a quarantine zone where nobody's allowed to go instead of wiping out as many as they can. If necessary, use nuclear weapons against them. They're the ones that are probably responsible for honeybees being in trouble if they are. I've already had the talk with the bug man and found out you won't get fined and put it jail if you get stung. You'll only get in trouble if you find a nest in your yard and spray it.
God bless, Jason Irelan

Oh, okay. I sit corrected. You were stung FIVE TIMES.

Well, I've been stung multiple times too, though it was many years between the first time and the rest of them (which happened all at once and my mother carted me off to the hospital).

One of my cats was stung by a bee when he was a kitten. He decided to practice his hunting skills, but as there were no mice in the house, he went after the first live animal smaller than himself... which turned out to be a bee that had gotten in. He was stung on his paw, which became quite swollen. I spent the next 48 hours observing him, ready to get him to the vet if he had trouble breathing. Happily he recovered, and never tried to catch bees again.

None of these incidents made me hate bees. They are crucial to our food supply (did you watch the video posted upthread? It's very good at explaining why bees are so necessary).

Nuking them would be irrational, to put it politely.

 

[Spot261]

No it wouldn't, the radioactive waste would help the crops grow in their absence. If you've been stung five times there's no real problem with a disproportionate response or destabilising the eco system surely?

Actually, I'll need to check (might not bother) but I've a feeling here in the UK there is in fact legislation against killing bees, or at least against killing whole hives. You have to call the local authorities who resite the hive, which given the risk should indicate the seriousness of the situation I suppose.

By the way, it isn't actually the honey they make that is the issue, it's the fact that they pollenate crops.