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.

(Cricket Holodeck)

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.

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.

(This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission from Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction.)