A Life-Size Hologram Of Star Trek’s Enterprise Is In The Works
A new archival project will soon be creating a life-size Enterprise hologram for Star Trek fans.
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It’s probably going to be quite a while before any of us can install a holodeck in our homes or have our own sentient Emergency Medical Hologram like they do on Star Trek: Voyager. But pretty soon you may be able to see a life-size holographic replica of the U.S.S. Enterprise itself.
According to Variety‘s report last week, the estate of Gene Roddenberry (the creator of Star Trek) has teamed up with cloud graphics company OTOY and Light Field Lab to create the digitized Roddenberry Archive, and create an Enterprise hologram. Curated by Trek artists Mike Okuda, Daren Dochterman and Doug Drexler — and writer Denise Okuda — the Roddenberry Archive will preserve notes, scripts, photos, blueprints, models, and any other number of documents and physical assets from the estate regarding Star Trek. Digital artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann — an OTOY board member — and beloved comic book artist Alex Ross will also join the Roddenberry Archive as consultants, as well as cross-linking it with their own digital archives. The project was formally announced at the annual Creation Entertainment Star Trek convention in Las Vegas last Friday.
Among the stated goals of the project is the creation of a life-size hologram of the U.S.S Enterprise — that’s the o.g. Enterprise, NCC-1701 or, in the words of James Doohan’s Montgomery Scott, “No bloody A, B, C, or D.” In a video on the company’s YouTube channel, OTOY CEO Jules Urbach talks about their ability to create what he calls a holographic version of the ship at “1:1 scale.”
While the Enterprise hologram is on its way, what’s expected to be the most immediate benefit of the project is the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFT) available to die-hard Star Trek fans. The relatively new form of cryptocurrency is controversial for, among other reasons, doing what Gizmodo calls “shocking amounts of damage to the environment.”
On the entertainment side of things, Gene Roddenberry’s legend keeps Trekkin’, creating even more content beyond the Enterprise hologram. Season 2 of the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered on Paramount+ last Thursday and a new animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy, is due to premiere sometime in the Fall. In June, fans got to see a teaser for Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard that will be released next year and will see John de Lancie reprise the role of the mischievous and seemingly all-powerful Q. The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is likewise set to premiere in 2022. Anson Mount, who played Captain Christopher Pike in Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery is set to reprise that role, and he will be joined and Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romjin as Number One — a role originated by Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry’s late widow.
Along with all the new series on the horizon, and the archive project with the Enterprise hologram, Star Trek isn’t leaving cinema by the wayside. Last month, official word finally dropped that Star Trek 4 — long lost to development Limbo — is on its way with a new creative team. The next movie will be directed by Matt Shakman, who impressed all the right people with his work on Disney+’s first MCU series WandaVision. Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet will write the script. Beer co-wrote the screenplay for an as of yet untitled Pet Sematary project, while Robertson-Dworet co-wrote 2018’s Tomb Raider and 2019’s Captain Marvel.
