It’s not the holodeck. Still, fans of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” should set their expressions to stunned after taking a virtual reality tour of the USS Enterprise with Oculus Rift.
Yes, following a 3-D model of the apartment from “Seinfeld,” the Wall from “Game of Thrones,” and the bridge from “Star Trek: Voyager,” someone has painstakingly recreated the starship from one of the most popular science-fiction shows of all time.
Well, part of it anyway. Enda O'Connor, an Irish filmmaker, put together a digital version of the bridge and Capt. Jean-Luc Picard’s ready room from the '90s TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation." (Those hoping to watch William T. Riker jam on the saxophone over a glass of synthehol in the ship’s bar, Ten Forward, are out of luck).
What does it take to reach the bridge of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)? No, not a transporter or a shuttlecraft. Instead, Star Trek fans will have to pony up $350 for the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset built by Oculus VR, a company that was purchased by Facebook in March for $2 billion.
On Monday, O'Connor posted links to his creation on Reddit and wrote that it was "still a work in progress." While waiting for him to finish, sci-fi fans should probably concentrate their efforts on getting someone to build Serenity from "Firefly," the Battlestar Galactica, and the Mos Eisley Cantina.