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Crickets Now Have 'Holodeck'
Amy Young, who creates mixed-media interactive sculptures and digital media works, has vaulted the common cricket into the 23rd century of human imagination with her Cricket Holodeck.
(Holodeck for House Crickets)
The 'holodeck' consists of a hand-blown glass enclosure, sand and microphone, with a computer running a video projector. She writes:
If they could choose, where would domesticated crickets choose to be? Living outdoors in the midwest winters is not a a survivable option for Acheta domesticus (house crickets), but perhaps they still yearn for the pastoral grasslands and woodlands experienced by their wild relatives. Actual nature would be a bit harsh for these crickets, who are raised in climate-controlled tanks as food for reptiles, so I have constructed a safe bubble for them.
As the crickets held safely within the enclosure chirp, each chirp advances the 'panoramic, cricket-eye-view" of their projected outdoor scenery.
Update 06-Jul-2020: See the reference for holodeck from Encounter at Farpoint (1987), the novelization of the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. End update.
Humans who yearn for the holodeck of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame will have to be satisfied with mere precursors and enablers of this technology, like the CirculaFloor, Holodek - A unique real-world virtual venue and the VirtuSphere hamster ball for humans. Read more at Holodeck for House Crickets; thanks to Regine for this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/13/2005)
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