The Holodeck in Star Trek is a virtual reality room that has its environment change depending on the needs of the user. According to Oculus, such technology is still years ahead, with probably at least 15 years to go before something like the Holodeck is developed.
The HTC Vive virtual reality headset, however, utilizes external cameras that feedback the position of the user within a room into the device. The HTC Vive then displays the walls of the room as wire-frame barriers, which in a sense gives it a Holodeck feel, aside from the headset that Holodeck users on Star Trek do not have to wear.
The association with the HTC Vive and Star Trek's Holodeck caught on, however, and with Valve allowing users to create their own SteamVR backgrounds, the first step to bringing the Holodeck to life has been taken.
When users access SteamVR on their HTC Vive headsets, the loading area is a boring gray space with grid lines showing the boundaries of the user's space. Valve allows users to launch alternative landscapes for the loading area, and this is where the Holodeck comes in.
Reddit user illogical_cpt created the Holodeck background, which was uploaded by Steam user Bradllez to the new SteamVR Workshop of Valve. The background is now among the most popular ones on the SteamVR Workshop.
The video that comes with the upload shows how it is like when entering SteamVR with the Holodeck background installed. There is nothing much to see and do, but it serves as a reminder that, while our technology has not actually caught up with what we see in science fiction franchises, we are getting much closer to it than where we were decades ago.
Other popular backgrounds for SteamVR are entitled Night Sky, Mirror's Edge Rooftop, The Milkyway and Hover Junkers Sunset.
