What would you use the holodeck for?

[TheSubCommander]

It's not like there's only the holodeck.

Might be hard to accept, but a portion of the Enterprise's crew and civilians could have no interest in the holodecks.

As I understand the holodeck, if two people (on the holodeck) walk away from each other, at some point they would each be in their own "holo-bubble." They might seem hundreds of feet apart, but really they're only ten feet or so.

So, if you walk into a seemingly empty holodeck, there could be a dozen people in there, each in their own "bubble."

Initially your little bubble is of a large empty holodeck.

That, or rank just has its privileges, and whenever the senior staff want to use the holodeck, the ensigns have to leave.

 

[wulfio]

Edit. If you accept the number of 16 holodecks and that at any given moment there are ~670 people in their free time, you can satisfy the holo-needs of only 2.4 % of aforementioned people.

I'm surprised that aren't lines outside of holodecks...

Actually I'd say that number is wrong. The crew is stated as being 1014, including civilians. So if they run a 3 shift rotation, that means that on average, 676 crew members/civilians are either on duty/working, or sleeping.

that leaves 338 crew members off duty and awake at any given time. So with 16 holodecks, there is 128 hours of holodeck time available for recreation during every off shift. It's likely that one holodeck visit = 1 hour.

That means 37% of those people are able to use the holodeck on a daily basis. Now you'd factor in that people probably don't use the holodeck every day, as well as the option for the other recreational activities available.

And then some people(couples, friends) might use the holodeck simultaneously to run programs together.

So lets say theres 896 of hours available per off shift every week(128x7). And lets say of those 338 crew, they typically use the holodeck 3 times a week. That's 1014 hours needed. So in any given week, only 118 people can visit the holodeck twice rather than 3 times. That's meeting the needs of 88% of the crew on a weekly basis given the 3 visit parameters.

Then you could factor in that maybe 20%ish of those people(68) are using the holodeck with a group of 2 or more. for this argument we'll just say a pair. So the crew needs 912 hours for 3 visits a week per shift, with 896 hours available. Now we're up to 98% needs met.

Not to mention some people would only want to use it once a week, or once a month that will put us over 100%. You'll get the odd case like Barclay. It's no different than people who are addicted to mmorpg's now. But typically, I think people can entertain themselves. And if you're working on a starship, I'd wager most are a bit more mentally stable than a manic depressive with dependency issues. So I'd say 16 holodecks is a pretty realistic number. It's not surprising to me if the holodeck would be unused at a given time.

 

[Zaku]

Edit. If you accept the number of 16 holodecks and that at any given moment there are ~670 people in their free time, you can satisfy the holo-needs of only 2.4 % of aforementioned people.

I'm surprised that aren't lines outside of holodecks...

Actually I'd say that number is wrong. The crew is stated as being 1014, including civilians. So if they run a 3 shift rotation, that means that on average, 676 crew members/civilians are either on duty/working, or sleeping.

I'm impressed .

Just a little annotation. There is a night/day cycle on the Enterprise and during the "night" there are less people around (p.e. the episode Lessons).

Probably the only people on the three shifts rotation are those indispensable for ship operating. The others may have something akin to 9-6 p.m. routine (for example the teachers).

And you can use the holodeck for work too (Booby Trap) and I suppose that the schools can use them for educational purpose.

 

[Zaku]

I'm realizing now that people on the Enterprise have a lot of free time. No commuting, no cooking, no household chores, no banks....

 

[CaptainTroi]

It's not like there's only the holodeck.

Might be hard to accept, but a portion of the Enterprise's crew and civilians could have no interest in the holodecks.

As I understand the holodeck, if two people (on the holodeck) walk away from each other, at some point they would each be in their own "holo-bubble." They might seem hundreds of feet apart, but really they're only ten feet or so.

So, if you walk into a seemingly empty holodeck, there could be a dozen people in there, each in their own "bubble."

Initially your little bubble is of a large empty holodeck.

Very good point!

I never thought about it, but it makes sense. I mean the holodeck could simulate an entire starship, city, or even world. You could be holographically miles apart yet in reality very close.

Imagine, you're making sweet love to a holographic Deanna Troi whilst the actual one is looking at a sunset just metres from your position lol.

 

[CaptainTroi]

Edit. If you accept the number of 16 holodecks and that at any given moment there are ~670 people in their free time, you can satisfy the holo-needs of only 2.4 % of aforementioned people.

I'm surprised that aren't lines outside of holodecks...

Actually I'd say that number is wrong. The crew is stated as being 1014, including civilians. So if they run a 3 shift rotation, that means that on average, 676 crew members/civilians are either on duty/working, or sleeping.

that leaves 338 crew members off duty and awake at any given time. So with 16 holodecks, there is 128 hours of holodeck time available for recreation during every off shift. It's likely that one holodeck visit = 1 hour.

That means 37% of those people are able to use the holodeck on a daily basis. Now you'd factor in that people probably don't use the holodeck every day, as well as the option for the other recreational activities available.

And then some people(couples, friends) might use the holodeck simultaneously to run programs together.

So lets say theres 896 of hours available per off shift every week(128x7). And lets say of those 338 crew, they typically use the holodeck 3 times a week. That's 1014 hours needed. So in any given week, only 118 people can visit the holodeck twice rather than 3 times. That's meeting the needs of 88% of the crew on a weekly basis given the 3 visit parameters.

Then you could factor in that maybe 20%ish of those people(68) are using the holodeck with a group of 2 or more. for this argument we'll just say a pair. So the crew needs 912 hours for 3 visits a week per shift, with 896 hours available. Now we're up to 98% needs met.

Not to mention some people would only want to use it once a week, or once a month that will put us over 100%. You'll get the odd case like Barclay. It's no different than people who are addicted to mmorpg's now. But typically, I think people can entertain themselves. And if you're working on a starship, I'd wager most are a bit more mentally stable than a manic depressive with dependency issues. So I'd say 16 holodecks is a pretty realistic number. It's not surprising to me if the holodeck would be unused at a given time.

Epic analysis. Well said.

Yeah I wouldn't use it all the time, but I must admit, would probably visit a holographic Deanna Troi at least twice a week.

 

[Makarov]

I honestly think the invention of holodecks would really decrease people's desire to go on dates with real people, and might be detrimental to Trek's society. Not just for sex but for romance and friendship as well. Why attempt the real thing when you can program the perfect mate or best friend. Maybe that's why hardly any of the bridge crew get it on with each other.

You would eventually have people being gods of their own little holographic world the same way people are obsessed with social media these days, trying to have control over their social life. Maybe the only interaction they would get with other real people would be the holodeck repair man. Hanging out with real people would be considered "retro." (Isn't it already a little today?)

Not to mention, if you ever lost a person in your life you could recreate them on the holodeck with only like 10% margin of error. That would be a huuuuge change to the way people deal with stuff, unless it was very looked down upon by Trek society. Imagine having your distant ancestor recreated with only 10%% error and being able to hang out with them.

It would probably change education as well. Why have schools when you can give everyone ivy league education inside a holodeck? Just have one really good college and then pipe that into everyone else's holodeck. Not to mention you could live your entire life in high school for those that feel like it was the best time of their lives.

The only downside to all of this is that some alien race would probably come conquer Earth while everybody's busy living in the holodecks.

 

[wulfio]

Edit. If you accept the number of 16 holodecks and that at any given moment there are ~670 people in their free time, you can satisfy the holo-needs of only 2.4 % of aforementioned people.

I'm surprised that aren't lines outside of holodecks...

Actually I'd say that number is wrong. The crew is stated as being 1014, including civilians. So if they run a 3 shift rotation, that means that on average, 676 crew members/civilians are either on duty/working, or sleeping.

I'm impressed .

Just a little annotation. There is a night/day cycle on the Enterprise and during the "night" there are less people around (p.e. the episode Lessons).

Probably the only people on the three shifts rotation are those indispensable for ship operating. The others may have something akin to 9-6 p.m. routine (for example the teachers).

And you can use the holodeck for work too (Booby Trap) and I suppose that the schools can use them for educational purpose.

Good points. I also didn't factor in that sometimes people pull double shifts. Like Geordi does them, and in the episode Lower Decks I think(the one with the ensigns), the vulcan engineer also pulled a double to help Geordi. I think mini Riker pulled a double in that episode as well. And we saw Both Harry Kim and Dr. Crusher pulling double shifts to get command experience on the bridge. So it's likely they are sleeping/napping for most of their time off that day.

Also that after a long day, where maybe you didn't sleep well the night before, sometimes the last thing I want to do is get off the couch. At least for me anyway! Which is one thing that I don't like about Star Trek. Their couches suck ass.

 

[Nick086]

Having said that, lots of people walking around on the same deck as the holodeck seemed to have smiles on their face...

Which leads to an even more important question:

Who cleans up the holodeck?

Let the boy Wesley clean it up.

 

[Mojochi]

For making the impossible possible, and the excessively difficult more doable

what I think annoys me the most about the holodeck is how it is so often used so singularly by individuals or pairs. Why do we never see a party on there, multiple people in there all at once? It has just as much application as a group activity than as a personal one. I think the sea ship scene in Generations is one of the only times I recall everyone involved in a program together on TNG. Otherwise, it's 1, or 2, maybe 3 people...4 tops. DS9 had the baseball games. If we really had that tech, it would clearly end up becoming a virtual world, like the internet.

If you could communicate live with people back on Earth, and exchange data, then you could link holodecks, & it would be like you were in the same room with them. You'd go on missions & still see your family every night, without them being put in harm's way. The applications would be limitless

 

[CaptainTroi]

For making the impossible possible, and the excessively difficult more doable

what I think annoys me the most about the holodeck is how it is so often used so singularly by individuals or pairs. Why do we never see a party on there, multiple people in there all at once? It has just as much application as a group activity than as a personal one. I think the sea ship scene in Generations is one of the only times I recall everyone involved in a program together on TNG. Otherwise, it's 1, or 2, maybe 3 people...4 tops. DS9 had the baseball games. If we really had that tech, it would clearly end up becoming a virtual world, like the internet.

If you could communicate live with people back on Earth, and exchange data, then you could link holodecks, & it would be like you were in the same room with them. You'd go on missions & still see your family every night, without them being put in harm's way. The applications would be limitless

That's a point. I mean, we saw some use for parties in DS9 and Voyager. I think it was a budget/special effects issue.

If they made a series now, they could hopefully show it to its full potential.

I think they did show in Generations a ship with a lot of the crew in there.

There is also the holo bubble effect. You saw this to some extent in First Contact or indeed when anyone walked into a holodeck already in use.

Although multiple people in reality might be standing within metres of each other, unless they were interacting together, they were in a holo bubble and they would perceive either being a genuine distance away (e.g. other side of a planet/starship) or not be aware of the other person's presence.

In essence, you could be having a cosy time with two holographic Deanna Troi's in your holo bubble at a beach party, whilst the actual Deanna Troi was sunbathing in the same holodeck just metres from your position in reality, but both of you were unaware the other was there.

 

[Makarov]

Does the holodeck safety protocols stop you from punching an actual person in the face that's in the holodeck with you? If not then Barclay could have punched the real Riker if he walked into his program at the wrong moment.

 

[Mojochi]

Or you could link all the holodecks together and have like a new years party that the entire crew could attend, set in Times Square or something

You could use several holodecks linked together for training at the academy, and have each holodeck be a section of a starship. A cadet class could serve aboard a holographic ship in their final year. I'd think the holographic training facility would be a whole wing at the academy

 

[CaptainTroi]

Or you could link all the holodecks together and have like a new years party that the entire crew could attend, set in Times Square or something

You could use several holodecks linked together for training at the academy, and have each holodeck be a section of a starship. A cadet class could serve aboard a holographic ship in their final year. I'd think the holographic training facility would be a whole wing at the academy

That's an interesting idea the cadet class!

Yes, I think new year's celebrations would have been the norm for those offworld.

 

[CaptainTroi]

Having said that, lots of people walking around on the same deck as the holodeck seemed to have smiles on their face...

Which leads to an even more important question:

Who cleans up the holodeck?

Let the boy Wesley clean it up.

Let the holographic Orion girl clean it up whilst another one bathes you.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

A cadet class could serve aboard a holographic ship in their final year. I'd think the holographic training facility would be a whole wing at the academy

What'd really be interesting is if no one told those cadets their ship was a holodeck.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I've gotta tell ya ... when Riker starts falling in love with Minuet, she's hot and all that, but ... she's just, like, a really sophistocated and life-like Blow-up Doll and he knows that! And, you know, I've oft wondered about those Pink Alien Twins who created her ... were they making her talk and moving her around, by remote control, to make her so "life-like"? See, now that's disturbing to me. And Riker didn't even consider that possibility, at all.

Then - THEN - when he actually has the balls to go to Picard and start whining how he lost his "love" and whatnot, when Minuet got deleted ... hmmmBOY!!! Just imagine if she had "lived," then we'd have to be subjected to seeing Riker continue to humiliate himself further with this cyber-fantasy "woman." And yes, I know how it resembles and plays off of the Kirk/Rayna romance from the original series. But damn ... Riker's supposed to be cool, you know? The women all love him. The guys all hang with him ...

I mean ... Minuet really didn't help his reputation as a Ladies Man, that's for certain! Fortunately, outside of Soran the Asexual, he pretty much stuck with the choicest Real Women every planet visited had on offer. So, I don't really trust the Holodeck and I would not want it compromising my Social Position, like Riker almost did with it ...

 

[Makarov]

Yeah but what's the point of social position when you can be as popular and get as much sex as you want... on the holodeck?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Minuet is Dr. Olivet from Law & Order, so that alone makes her more interesting than most holodeck characters.

 

[Nick086]

So do they make Ensign Junior Grade Wesley Crusher or Mr. Crusher clean the holodeck after crew members get down with their sexual fantasy? "Don't forgot to do the ceiling!"