Did the genius of one Walt Disney Imagineer just bring us one step closer to Star Trek’s holodeck? Well, not quite. But we’re getting pretty close. Thanks to Kotaku, we’ve learned that celebrated Imagineer Lanny Smoot, recently inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, has created something called a “HoloTile.” So what does this HoloTile do exactly? As seen in the video from the Walt Disney Company below, this HoloTile is an omnidirectional treadmill-like floor. One that multiple people can use at the same time. And it can simulate a virtual reality space better than anything else ever made to date.
What makes the HoloTiles work is essentially a flat layer of small, circular rollers. They have the ability to move and rotate around while people walk on them while automatically adjusting to different walking speeds and directions. Yet the users never move more than mere inches from the HoloTile floor. With a proper VR headset, you’re looking at a rudimentary version of Star Trek’s holodeck come to life. This all seemed like pure science fiction back in 1987 when Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired. But now, it’s almost a reality. Hopefully, it doesn’t malfunction as much as the one on Star Trek.
Since the creative geniuses at Disney Imagineering are the people developing this technology, expect it to appear in a Disney theme park before anywhere else in the world. It’s wild to think that in just a few years, folks might be able to walk around on Coruscant or Dagobah while having fun in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Although we admit, it will be a bit weird if a holodeck appears first in a Star Wars land in a theme park and not one themed to Star Trek. Someone out there needs to make a Star Trek theme park now.