Computer scientists at University of Illinois at Chicago have created what can only be described as a real-life Star Trek holodeck. Now, it’s not nearly as impressive as its SciFi counterpart, after all futurist Tim Huckaby predicted it will take some ten years before a full blown version might be created, still virtual reality is about to step in a whole new ground, thanks to innovations just like this.

Called CAVE2, it features screens eight feet high wrapped in 320 degrees – once you step inside, you’re in a whole new world be it aboard the Starship enterprise, on a voyage to Mars, or take you for a stroll between the blood vessels in the brain. The latter is what makes it a truly useful addition to science, not just a geeky high-tech cave.

The thing is, technology and science is so advanced nowadays that data is available on a myriad of aspects. However, it’s still up to scientists, who are just humans after all, to put all the pieces together. In a virtual environment where you can explore and interactively see what happens, like folding a protein or adding drugs to see how they react and such, this whole process runs a whole lot smoother. Hopefully, we’ll see more CAVE2 like labs in the future.

The video below explains how CAVE2 works and presents the concept in greater detail. Enjoy!

Enjoyed this article? Join 40,000+ subscribers to the ZME Science newsletter. Subscribe now!