MrData
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Post by MrData on Mar 12, 2008 18:55:32 GMT -6
Somebody at school asked me today, "Does the food in the holodeck get replicated, or are people eating holograms and forcefields when they eat food from there?"
So... does anyone have an idea?
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Dataholic
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Post by Dataholic on Mar 13, 2008 1:50:46 GMT -6
That's an excellent question. I really don't know how to answer it. I wonder if the holodeck even has replicator capabilities. If the food is replicated, would it just disappear along with everything else when the program ends? Maybe the holodeck can act as a giant replicator and dispose of the remains on its own.
If you're eating holographic food, would you even be able to digest it when you're still in the holodeck? When you leave the holodeck, it would just vanish from your body. Maybe someone else can be of more use, because I have no idea.
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Mar 13, 2008 7:32:22 GMT -6
I'm not even sure how the holodeck works. "Holograms" are just visual illusions, and are not really there. Your hand would go right through them. But on the holodeck, interactive characters are apparently created out of shaped force fields. And what about water? When you fall into a lake on the holodeck, do you get wet? Interestingly enough, in the original Next Gen pilot episode, "Encounter at Far Point", Wesley comments on how real it all looks, and someone replied that much of it was. Apparently things like soil and water were replicated on the spot, to make it more realistic. So I assume that food could be replicated too, if you were in a restaurent-type situation. But holographic characters would eat holographic food, presumably. Anyone want to go down to the holodeck and arrange a Food Fight, to test the theory?
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MrData
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Post by MrData on Mar 13, 2008 19:08:13 GMT -6
In Encounter at Farpoint, Wesley also walks out of the holodeck soaking wet, which all sources tell me was a blooper.
But it is interesting that someone said that much of it was real, although it could have been an idea they dropped after the first episode.
And perhaps the food is the only thing replicated, but it isn't replicated until the holodeck thinks you are about to eat it...
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Mar 14, 2008 10:28:51 GMT -6
I always wondered how you could swim in holographic water.
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Baggy52
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Post by Baggy52 on Mar 14, 2008 14:14:40 GMT -6
...And drown in it too. In VOY whenever there was a party on the Holodeck they always had Neelix cook some food in the kitchen and bring it in later... but then again that could have been just them..
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Mar 17, 2008 7:47:32 GMT -6
Good point. I imagine "force fields" pretty much by definition would have to be rigid and inflexible. I don't see how they could simulate swimming. And the holodeck would definitely have to go out of its way to simulate suffocation in a situation like that. It couldn't be a matter of just "turning off the safety interlocks" or something.
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Luke
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Post by Luke on Mar 19, 2008 10:18:26 GMT -6
Maybe there's a way of blending two or more force fields together so that the join between them seems to be flexible. But how you could swim in it remains a mystery.
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Baggy52
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Post by Baggy52 on Mar 19, 2008 14:14:43 GMT -6
possibly only enough water is replicated to fill the area in immediately proximity, as you "swim you are actually in a small bubble of water while all you see around you is an illusion.
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Akira
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Post by Akira on Mar 19, 2008 17:40:52 GMT -6
Well i remember a reference to that the holodecks, transporters and replicators are all linked
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Baggy52
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Post by Baggy52 on Mar 19, 2008 18:38:00 GMT -6
Which may explain why whenever their is a problem with the holodeck they can't transport them off...
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Mar 20, 2008 7:33:54 GMT -6
possibly only enough water is replicated to fill the area in immediately proximity, as you "swim you are actually in a small bubble of water while all you see around you is an illusion. That sounds pretty reasonable. But I remember one episode (the one where they all lost their memories), and a young woman in Sickbay who had injured herself in a cliff diving simulation. How do you think they managed that?
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Baggy52
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Post by Baggy52 on Mar 20, 2008 13:51:55 GMT -6
The holodeck has to be able to modify gravity for situations to appear real. (e.g. a moonwalk simulation)
If the holodeck can modify the gravity then it has sufficient ability to cause damage from even what in reality may be a fall of mere inches to the floor if gravity is high enough. I suppose.
Any takers on this theory?
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Atoz 77
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Post by Atoz 77 on Mar 24, 2008 7:53:44 GMT -6
Obviously the grav plates on the ship can be adjusted. And obviously they also contain inertial dampening fields (or the crew would be splattered against the bulkheads every time the ship went to impulse power). In this case, however, it would have to simulate the feel of falling hundreds of feets when you're actually just suspended in the air in (presumably) and anti-grav field. Sounds tricky, but I'm sure it could be done.
We seem to have wandered away from Mr. Data's original question, but I hope we've given him a good answer.
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MrData
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Post by MrData on Mar 24, 2008 10:42:32 GMT -6
I saw an episode of voyager recently where Torres was orbital skydiving in the holodeck. When she turned off the program she was just floating in midair, so yes, the holodeck can alter gravity.
And yes, good answers.
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