The Roddenberry Archive could very well be a dream come true for every die-hard "Star Trek" fan. The large-scale project is working towards launching a holographic installation of the Starship Enterprise, working holodeck and all!
The Roddenberry Archive Project
"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's estate announced The Roddenberry Archive. The project is aiming to go big with preserving scripts, blueprints, design documents, and studio models of "Start Trek" in an extensive digital archive, Cnet reported.
And as if that wasn't a mammoth task all on its own, the Archive is set out to launch a "fully immersive holographic installation" and the center stage of all of this? A life-size, 1:1 recreation of the Starship Enterprise that is supposed to be "indistinguishable from reality."
That's right: a 1:1 model of the Starship Enterprise you can explore.
The Roddenberry Archive is focused on preserving the "Star Trek" creator's work and the project has already begun with scanning hundreds of thousands of pages of notes, documents, scripts and behind-the-scenes materials into the digital catalog.
The cloud graphics firm OTOY is also a partner in this project, creating 3D scans of props ad scale models from "Star Trek" history, making the archive more than just a collection of documents and artistic interpretations of old design documents.
To the Roddenberry Estate, the archive is a "multi-decade collaboration to collect and preserve Gene Roddenberry's legacy," per Cnet. This could mean fans would need to wait a while longer to see the fruits of its labor.
There's something pretty cool about seeing a Star Trek physical model prop being scanned in @OTOY's LightStage - this is for 'The Roddenberry Archive', a collab between The Gene Roddenberry Estate, OTOY and @lightfieldlab https://t.co/KXIq0qF8oi pic.twitter.com/kIWvx9rxEV
— befores & afters magazine (@beforesmag) August 12, 2021
Holographic Life-Sized 'Star Trek' Starship Enterprise
To achieve the dream of creating an immersive Starship Enterprise experience, The Roddenberry Archive partnered with Light Field Lab to make the vision turn into a reality.
The goal is to create a "Star Trek"-like holodeck so fans can be immersed in the world of Star Trek.
Though Light Field Lab demoed a working holographic projector back in 2019, the device was only capable of creating 3D holograms in a small 4- by 6-inch space, according to CNet. Clearly, the technology is not what it needs to be to achieve the life-size Enterprise experience just yet.
Light Field Lab Founder and CEO Jon Karafin is looking forward to work on this project, asking fans to imagine being able to experience the holographic Enterprise "one day."
Before Star Trek, science fiction spaceships tended to be either cigar-shaped or saucer-shaped. Matt Jefferies brilliantly combined both in the Starship Enterprise to create something revolutionary and beautiful. pic.twitter.com/pcW22Vo20U
— @JulianRWPower.bsky.social 🇵🇸🇺🇦 (@JulianPowerVO) August 12, 2021
Until the 1:1 Enterprise launches, the Archive is working on creating a full-scale digital model of the starship.
Using a mix of records of the original studio models, production blueprints, reference designs, and decades of research, an "in-universe" model of the Enterprise is in the works.
The model is complete with areas of the ship not even features in the original TV series or films. The Roddenberry Archive has already shared some images of the digital 1:1 Enterprise and besides being massive, it is an incredibly impressive collection of realistic scenes from a Federation starship.
Fans can know more about the project at the Creation 55-year mission Star Trek event on August 13. The event will be held in the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. A live podcast broadcast will be hosted by the likes of "Enterprise Incidents with Scott & Steve" and "Inglorious Treksperts."
