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Strange New Worlds: Carol Kane’s Lanthanite Just Set Up a New Star Trek Mystery

The premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two introduces us to Carol Kane as new chief engineer Pelia and to the Lanthanites.

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This Star Trek: Strange New Worlds article contains spoilers.

When engineer Pelia strutted her way onto the Enterprise bridge in the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two, blatantly ignoring the evacuation warning and acting Captain Spock’s orders, viewers simply assumed she was just another one of the delightfully odd characters played by Carol Kane. From The Princess Bride and Scrooged to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Taxi , Kane has established herself as a master at playing wonderful oddballs, squeaky-voiced agents of chaos who disrupt the status quo simply by showing up.

And to be sure, that’s exactly what Pelia does. Not only does she see right through Spock’s (literally) textbook plan to falsely sabotage the ship and steal the Enterprise but she also offers a much more elegant solution, helping the skeleton crew answer a distress call from the erstwhile Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh.

Why is Pelia so quick to help Spock? Because she’s never known a Vulcan to act without a good reason and, more importantly, because of the respect she holds for Spock’s human mother, Amanda Grayson. After all, Amanda was the first human who ever learned that Pelia is in fact a Lanthanite.

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What is a Lanthanite, you ask? Well, that’s a good question, and honestly, we know as much as you do. Lanthanites are a completely new Star Trek species, so the only information available about them is found in “The Broken Circle.” We know that they’re humanoid (not a surprise, see the Next Generation episode “The Chase”), but unlike most other Trek aliens, they lack distinguishing foreheads, noses, or ears. This obvious similarity to humans allows Lanthanites to live on Earth undetected.

But the key aspect that defines Lanthanites, at least in this episode, is their very long life-span. We learn that Pelia has lived for over one hundred years and that she carries the weight of watching loved ones pass away. In her extended existence, Pelia has met few people like Amanda Grayson, the woman who not only won the heart of forward-thinking Vulcan Ambassador Sarek, but also helped direct the course of Spock and his adopted sister Michael Burnham of Star Trek: Discovery .

At this point, it’s unclear exactly how long Lanthanites live and why that’s significant. While some species definitely have shorter lifespans than humans (remember, the Ocampa Kes was only two years old when she and Neelix were introduced as a couple in Voyager ), many outlive humans by a great deal. Vulcans, Andorians, and Denobulans all live well into their hundreds, with some, such as Guinan’s species the El-Aurians, living several centuries.

Given the Enterprise crew’s reaction to Pelia’s revelation, it’s clear that the Federation knows a bit about Lanthanites, but we’re only given little bits and pieces of this new addition to the canon. Over the next nine episodes of season two, we’re sure to get to know this new species better, as Pelia becomes the ship’s new chief engineer. It’s hard to think of a wackier guide than Kane to lead us into the undiscovered country of the Lanthanites.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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‘star trek: strange new worlds’ actor bruce horak explores devastating penultimate season 1 episode.

Playing Lt. Hemmer, the Enterprise's chief engineer, the actor became the sci-fi franchise's first blind star when cast as the Aenar character.

By Ryan Parker

Ryan Parker

Former Senior Reporter

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[This story contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “All Those Who Wander.”] 

Bruce Horak was not taken by surprise. He knew how it was going to end for Lt. Hemmer.

The S tar Trek: Strange New Worlds actor was informed shortly after being cast as the Enterprise’s chief engineer for the first season of the Paramount+ series how his character’s arc would conclude. And when it finally came, Horak found great beauty in the moment, even though it signaled his time on the series as a regular had come to an end.

In “All Those Who Wander,” the penultimate season one episode, Hemmer — unknowingly at the time — sacrifices himself to save Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) when a Gorn attacks, spitting venom that hits him instead of her. Initially believed to blind or burn would-be victims, it is later discovered the vemon turns the body into a host for Gorn, leading to the deadly species’ babies bursting out of the body à la Alien . Hemmer, realizing what has happened, kills himself to spear his crew more harm and himself from horrendous agony.

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Playing Hemmer was a delight and honor, Horak told The Hollywood Reporter prior to the premiere of “All Those Who Wander.” The brave, wise Hemmer is an Aenar, which are an albino subspecies of Andorians. Although blind, Aenars have powerful telepathic abilities. In landing the role, the Calgary-born Horak actor became the sci-fi franchise’s first blind star.

Even though “All Those Who Wander” had been shot a year ago, Horak recalled with THR all the emotions that swirled around not only for his farewell but the entire Star Trek journey. In the below conversation, the actor touched on a number of topics, including how he was cast in the series, and the strong bonds he forged with the cast and his makeup team.

First, how are you doing, sir? I assume there must be a lot of emotions now that this heartbreaking and surprising episode has arrived. 

Well, we shot it a year ago, but I’m really happy with how the episode turned out. When I was approached to play the part, they told me right off the bat that this was going to be the character arc of Hemmer. So, I knew it going in. There was a bit of trepidation off the top about how the death was going to happen, how the grand finale was going to play out. When I read the script, I was so happy — well, happy is not the right word. I was relieved. It’s a pretty great death for a red shirt. ( Laughs .)

Was there a special dinner or party for your goodbye? I know some shows have a tradition when a beloved character meets their demise. 

There were a lot of tears. The final day we shot was actually the landing on the planet. It was really tearful, especially the prosthetics crew Allan Cooke and Shane Zander, who worked tirelessly on the look of Hemmer for the season. We really had a special bond, spending three and a half hours every morning getting ready and then an hour at the end of the day to get out of the prosthetic gear. Honestly, Shane and Allan sent me off in great style. There were exchanges of gifts. It was really lovely.

That perfectly leads me to my next question: How was the makeup process for you? Some actors tell me they don’t mind it, while others get super anxious sitting for so long. 

I have to say, I actually really enjoyed the process. I found it incredibly relaxing, and I was just in awe of their skill. It’s really a work of art industry. On the initial day, I had the head mold made, so they had to cover my face and hair with this sloppy goo, kind of like blue mud. And all of that was fine, but then when they covered the whole thing in plaster, that was a little unnerving.

How did you land the role of Hemmer, and what did it mean to you once cast? 

The audition call came through my agent. We knew it was a new Star Trek , but we didn’t know anything else about it. But as soon as I found out it was Star Trek , I was totally in. Then the character description sold me: I’d be playing a blind alien, and they were specifically looking for a blind or visually impaired performer to do the role, which again, I got really excited about because it felt like the door was being open[ed] to me. I think there were three or four auditions. I just couldn’t believe it during the whole process. When I did the camera test in the full makeup, standing on the bridge of the Enterprise, that was the point I took a huge breath in and had this incredible feeling of climbing to the top of a huge mountain and looking at the vast expanse in front of me while thinking, “This is going to be a heck of an adventure.” And it sure was.

What was the development of the character like? Did you have input given they sought to cast a blind actor in the role? I think of the scene early in the series when Hemmer dismisses any claims that his blindness is a handicap.

Honestly, all of that great character was written, and that very first scene you mentioned is what I read for the auditions. They’re kind of leaping in and discussing his impairment, which is — it’s a tricky word and always kind of has been when you’re coming up against living in the world. When I read that scene, I just immediately connected to it. In terms of the contribution, I added nothing to the text, it was all in the playing of it. It was really just about finding the way he moves and how he interacts in the world and bringing the physicality and the poise to it. That was my contribution.

I loved the bond formed between Hemmer and Nyota. Not only does he save her, but through the series, he encouraged her to believe in herself and let her walls down. What was it like working with Celia and creating those lovely moments? 

I knew that Hemmer was going to be a mentor figure. He starts off gruff and kind of aloof, but there are beautiful moments when he guides Nyota and then in the end, talks about purpose with that wonderful resolution in this episode. It feels like a really beautiful arc for the character. And for myself, mentors have been absolutely forefront in my life. I wouldn’t be where I am without people who have guided me and offered advice. So, I really connected with Hemmer. Celia and I connected from the very beginning. Most of our scenes are together, so we spent a lot of time off-camera just hanging out and connecting about music and theater. She has a background in theater, as do I. That was one of the hardest goodbyes, for sure.

And finally, Star Trek has taught me to never say never, so I will say I hope Hemmer comes back via a flashback or an alternate timeline. Safe to assume you’re on board for that? 

I do feel the same way, and so does my bank account! ( Laughs .) Well, I have been released to say that this is not the end of Bruce Horak’s career in Star Trek .

Interview edited for length and clarity. 

The season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+ next Thursday.

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Also seen is Number One (Rebecca Romijn) leading a landing party, a transporter operator (Andre Dae Kim) wearing another new uniform design, more from the Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) welcome party in Captain Pike’s quarters, and another look at that downed  Constitution- class starship.

One of our readers on Twitter also spied what looks to be a revamped Orion ship in the new teaser as well:

Wait – Is that an Orion Scout Ship?? pic.twitter.com/q1y52TkIkv — Nick (@Stalsomething) March 30, 2022

These character teasers are likely to continue throughout the week as we approach next Tuesday’s “First Contact Day,” so keep your eyes on TrekCore in the days to come!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  debuts on Thursday, May 5 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada. Additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is upending canon for its new engineer

Carol Kane plays the the mysterious, hilarious chief engineer Pelia

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As season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds comes to Paramount Plus this week, most things about the show are the same. It’s still the Enterprise as helmed by Captain Pike , Kirk’s predecessor. It’s still a return to the episodic Trek formula of yesteryear. And it’s all the same cast — except for one.

With last season’s heartbreaking death of chief engineer Hemmer, there’s a space to fill on the Enterprise roster. And as it’s still a little too early for Montgomery “Scotty” Scott to show up, that role has fallen to an original character: chief engineer Pelia, played by legendary actor and comedian Carol Kane.

Given that she’s brand-new, there’s very little anybody knows about Pelia — but in the season premiere, “The Broken Circle,” she’s already upending everything we know about Star Trek’s alternate history of humanity.

[ Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for the season premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.]

The usual sign that a character is human rather than one of Star Trek’s innumerable humanoid aliens is that they’re not wearing some kind of facial prosthetics. And you won’t find a pointed ear or ridged forehead anywhere in Kane’s show wardrobe. But, as “The Broken Circle” reveals, Pelia is definitely not human. The first hint we get is when she casually refers to being more than 100 years old. In the same scene, Uhura, the ship’s polyglot, takes note of Pelia’s accent and asks if she is “Lanthanite,” to which Pelia replies, “Guilty as charged.”

Which is very interesting, because there’s no analogous Star Trek species to that name. In the episode’s final scenes, Spock drops one more tantalizing, explosive line about Lanthanites in conversation with Pelia: “I’ve always been fascinated by your people. That you managed to live on Earth among other humans undetected until the 22nd century is remarkable.”

This is brand-new information for Star Trek canon, and it would mean that somewhere in the 2100s — a century that includes the founding of the Federation, the obsolescence of money, and the events of the Star Trek: Enterprise series — humanity discovered that there had been aliens living among them. And this is something that everybody in Star Trek has just... known this whole time, but not mentioned until now? Buck wild.

When Polygon spoke with Kane, the first thing we asked was how she’d reacted upon realizing her character was an alien who’d lived secretly among humans for potentially centuries.

“Just thrilled,” she replied, “because you can let your imagination run wild and it’ll work. Also, I like the fact that I get to be the one that knows the most — in my opinion. And I probably do,” she quipped, “because of the time I’ve been on the Earth and in space.”

Kane said she relishes playing an older character, not unlike the original series’ Dr. McCoy, who’s doing cool space stuff right alongside all the young folks. “I like that at my age, which is Pelia’s age, that I get to be on the ship and embraced by the other people, so I’m not solitary. I like that. I relate to that.”

Kane couldn’t tell us anything about Pelia or the Lanthanites that wasn’t already revealed in “The Broken Circle.” All we can say for now is that they appear to be a completely new addition to the galaxy of species that make up Star Trek canon, and that chief engineer Pelia has a friendly history with Spock’s mother, Amanda Grayson. There’s no telling when Strange New Worlds is planning to reveal more, but we, for one, eagerly await more answers about the aliens living among us.

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Meet Star Trek’s NEW Chief Engineer!

It’s time we get introduced to Star Trek’s New Chief Engineer! Meet Hemmer. The new Chief joined the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season One Episode Two Children Of The Comet . Additionally, we’ve got details on Bruce Horak , the actor who portrays Chief Engineer Hemmer in the brand new series. Plus what makes the character unique and what we can expect.

While he technically appeared in the premiere episode of Strange New Worlds , the second episode was his proper debut. However, we did not spend much time with him this week. I’m thinking we’ll get a dedicated episode to Hemmer later on in season one. Given that most of the episodes appear to be focused around one of the main cast. So, what do we know about Hemmer so far?

Hemmer – The Chief Engineer

Joining the crew is another alien. Hemmer is an Aenar, which is a subspecies of the famous Star Trek species, The Andorians. We’ll talk more about the Aenar and what makes them special later on. Hemmer first beamed onboard during Episode One “Strange New Worlds”, however only for a brief moment. Episode 2 “Children of the Comet” was his first proper introduction.

Audiences will get to see what Bruce Horak’s Hemmer is all about in upcoming episodes of the series. However, we’ve already got a small introduction to what Hemmer is like. During his interaction with Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Hemmer and Mr Spock hazed the young cadet.

Additionally, what makes Hemmer so cool is his character’s status in the Star Trek Universe . It’s over 50 years since the Andorian species introduction, first featured in “Journey to Babel”. This makes Hemmer the first Andorian to be a regular cast member in a Star Trek series.

Bruce Horak – The Actor

So, who brings Hemmer to life? That would be actor Bruce Horak, who was announced alongside the main cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in 2021. Horak is legally blind, having lost 90% of his eyesight to childhood cancer.

Fans of Star Trek: Enterprise’s Chief Engineer, Trip Tucker, will appreciate that Bruce Horak lists him as one of his favourite engineers of the entire franchise. Speaking with Cinemablend , he spoke about past Aenar performances:

I particularly liked just the physicality of those actors and how they were moving. Not kind of stumbling around with their hands or anything, but moving with this grace and the slowness and the stillness. That I really appreciated. That was a big part of it. Just really taking on and trying to embody some of that physicality. Bruce Horak – Cinemablend

The Aenar – The Subspecies

Originally introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise , the Aenar are a humanoid species native to the Northern Wastes of Andoria. They’re a subspecies of the Andorians and are a rather small subspecies at that. Additionally, Aenar were completely blind, yet could see via telepathy.

Star Trek’s first introduction to the species was in 2154, via the NX-01 Enterprise under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer. Additionally, the Romulan Star Empire kidnapped the Aenar known as Gareb. They forced him to use telepresence to pilot an experimental drone starship. The goal at hand was to disrupt interstellar affairs and kill off the idea of cooperation.

However, Captain Archer along with the Aenar Jhamel was able to foil the Romulan’s plans and destroy the drone ship. It seems that over 100 years later, at least one Aenar, Chief Engineer Hemmer was serving in Starfleet. Given the species’ low population count, it makes sense that we don’t see many others in Starfleet or around the Federation.

Based on Star Trek: Strange New World’s season trailer, we’ll be getting to spend a fair amount of time with Star Trek’s NEW Chief Engineer. Already the upcoming Episode 3 looks to make use of his technical skills. Additionally, with the series playing on the classic vibes, I’m hoping we get a dedicated engineering episode at some point.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  airs on Thursday, May 5 via Paramount+ in the USA, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics. Additionally on the CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave Streaming in Canada. Plus Voot Select in India, TVNZ in New Zealand, and Cosmote TV in Greece. Additionally, the streaming service will also land in the UK & Ireland on June 22nd, 2022.

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Strange New Worlds star reveals why [spoilers] had to die

Bruce Horak talks about the bittersweet triumph of Hemmer, his own fan fiction, and why his “Star Trek career” is far from over.

Death, in science fiction, is seldom permanent.

But in the final moments of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds E pisode 9, “All Those Who Wander,” one member of the crew does seemingly depart forever. Here’s what actor Bruce Horak knew about Hemmer’s fate ahead of time, what could have happened off-screen, and why he’s just getting started in the Star Trek universe. Spoilers ahead.

After battling the Gorn on a crashed starship, the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise, Hemmer, steps off a cliff to prevent the Gorn babies inside him from bursting out and killing everyone. It’s the kind of twist sci-fi and horror fans are used to seeing: The hero knows they’re infected with something unstoppable, so they make the ultimate sacrifice. But for Horak, the knowledge of his eventual sacrifice was in his head from the very beginning.

“Make it a cool death.”

Hemmer (Bruce Horak) and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) in Strange New Worlds, Episode 9.

“I knew right off the bat,” Horak tells Inverse. “ [Showrunner] Henry Alonso Myers told me in the Zoom audition before I even had my [prothestic] head mold made. He told me that I was gonna go.”

Not all of Horak’s castmates were aware, including the actor behind Hemmer’s protégé, Uhura, Celia Rose Gooding . “Celia didn’t know until we actually read for episode 9,” he says. “I was pretty careful not to blow the secret.”

Hemmer has only been in a handful of episodes, but as Horak says, “I knew we were building him up as a fan favorite.” The writer of the episode, Davy Perez, admits to Inverse that he “agonized,” when it came time to actually write the big moment.

“Bruce Horak brought Hemmer to life with such warmth and brilliance, his chemistry with Celia as Uhura,” Perez says. “It was difficult to stay committed to that storyline.”

Horak points out that Hemmer is a kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi figure to Uhura, and that as sci-fi mentor deaths go, he was satisfied with how Hemmer went out. “It was all about that family bond, and him being a mentor. I was just like, ‘make it a cool death.’ Don't have just some cruddy red shirt death. But then I read it. And it’s so cool. You couldn’t ask for better, really.”

It’s the kind of moment fans will probably equate with Spock’s death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , which is poignant since this episode takes place two and a half decades before Spock’s sacrifice. Hemmer even flashes the famous Vulcan “Live long and prosper” salute before heading out into the cold.

“I can't wait to read the fan fiction novel where Hemmer survives.”

Perez says this parallel was intentional. “ I do like to think that the Spock of tomorrow is being informed by some of the lessons and experiences he's having in our show,” he says. “I think Hemmer’s death would be something that would flash across Spock’s mind in The Wrath of Khan; r emembering how Hemmer put the lives of his crewmates before his own, but also, how Spock is affected by it in the aftermath. Who knows, maybe some of this experience mourning Hemmer is why Spock has the foresight to give Bones his Katra?”

Hemmer’s death reminds the Strange New Worlds audience that the stakes are high. Despite the fact that this is a prequel to The Original Series , not everyone is safe. But, also, like in The Wrath of Khan , there’s a glimmer of hope. After all, we didn’t actually see a body. Could Hemmer be back? And what about those Gorn eggs inside of him?

Bruce Horak at the premiere of Strange New Worlds .

“I can't wait to read the fan fiction novel where Hemmer survives and the Gorn erupts out of him,” Horak says laughing. “And then, the child of Hemmer grows up, and he’s half-Gorn and half-Aenar with this internal conflict, and he joins Starfleet and like teams up with La’an’s kid. I can’t wait for that.”

Even if that never happens, Hemmer and Horak have already made their mark on the Final Frontier. Horak is the first legally blind actor to play a blind character on Star Trek, and while the story of Hemmer may be at an end, Horak teases that we haven’t seen the last of him. Many actors, from Jeffrey Combs to Kenneth Mitchell, have played numerous characters on Star Trek. Brent Spiner’s Data died back in 2002, but Spiner keeps returning to Picard as new characters.

“That’s the beauty of Star Trek,” Horak says. “There is that history where you can come back. And I can say this: The Star Trek career of Bruce Horak is not over. That much I can say. And it’s an absolute dream.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs its Season 1 finale on Thursday, July 7 on Paramount+.

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Scotty Will Return in Season 3 of 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

Martin Quinn's version of the character first appeared in season 2's finale.

The Big Picture

• Martin Quinn to bring authentic Scottish flair as Montgomery Scott on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• Quinn adds a new perspective to the character previously played by actors from Canada and England.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to explore the adventures of the USS Enterprise under Captain Pike.

A classic member of the Enterprise crew will return for the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . After debuting in the final episode of the show's second season , Martin Quinn will stay on board as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the upcoming season of Paramount+'s newest Star Trek series. As reported by BBC Scotland in an interview with Quinn, the character will recur on Strange New World 's third season, which is currently filming in Toronto, Ontario.

Quinn is the first-ever Scot to play the character, who was previously played by a Canadian ( James Doohan ) and an Englishman ( Simon Pegg ), and the interview notes that he's adding authenticity to the character, making sure that the show's writers use authentic Scottish slang: "They let me put in the word 'baw-heid' instead of 'turnip-heid'. Maybe they think all Scottish people are farmers? But they were very gracious about it." Quinn is from the town of Paisley; he has previously appeared on episodes of Limmy's Show , Annika , and Derry Girls .

Who is Montgomery Scott?

Played by Doohan in Star Trek: The Original Series , Scott is the ever-capable head engineer of the USS Enterprise , famed for his ability to solve catastrophic problems in short periods of time. After the series went off the air, Doohan reprised the role in Star Trek: The Animated Series and in all six of the feature films starring the series' original cast. He also returned for a cameo in Star Trek: Generations , attending the launch of the USS Enterprise-B , and guest-starred on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", where he is discovered by the Enterprise-D 's crew a century in the future, having been preserved in a transporter buffer. Pegg took on the role for J.J. Abrams ' cinematic reboot of the franchise, and reprised it for its two sequels; a fourth film is still up in the air .

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds features the adventures of the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike ( Anson Mount ) prior to The Original Series . It has so far featured two different chief engineers. Hemmer ( Bruce Horak ) was a member of the Aenar species, and sacrificed himself in the show's first-season finale to save the rest of the crew from the Gorn. His replacement was Pelia ( Carol Kane ), a long-lived Lanthanite, who joined the crew in the show's second season.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently filming its third season; no release date has yet been set . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (played by Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds throughout the galaxy in the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.

Screen Rant

Strange new worlds continues uhura’s bond with enterprise engineers.

From Hemmer to Scotty, Uhura has an affinity for the Enterprise's engineers and she may have a new engineer mentor in Strange New Worlds season 2.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 looks to continue the affinity Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) has for the Starship Enterprise's engineers. Uhura has been a fixture of Star Trek since the show began in 1966 when Nichelle Nichols portrayed the later version of the character, Lt. Uhura. Though Uhura is usually stationed at the Communications station on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, she seems to have a particular interest in engineering (or in engineers, anyway).

In the Star Trek films that followed The Original Series , Uhura and Scotty (James Doohan) grew close. She even appeared to show some romantic interest in Scotty in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, though she was being influenced by the Vulcan, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), at the time. In Strange New Worlds season 1, Uhura came under the tutelage of Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak), and she looked up to him as a mentor. Though it is a brief moment in the Strange New Worlds season 2 trailer, Uhura can be seen hurrying after the new Chief Engineer, Pelia (Carol Kane), so it appears that Uhura will continue the trend of being close with the Enterprise engineers.

Strange New Worlds Continues Uhura’s Bond With Enterprise Engineers

Uhura's character on Strange New Worlds already has more to do than her Original Series predecessor generally enjoyed. While stationed on the USS Enterprise under Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Uhura did rotation duty as a Starfleet Cadet and she was able to gain experience in many different areas of the ship. Uhura found she gelled with Hemmer in Engineering. The wise, blind Aenar lived to "fix what was broken," and Uhura became one of those "broken" things he fixed as she had lost her real father and the rest of her family in a shuttle accident when she was younger. When Uhura questioned what she wanted to do with her life, Hemmer encouraged her to stick it out and remain in Starfleet.

After Hemmer became fatally infected with Gorn eggs and sacrificed himself to save the rest of the crew, Uhura spoke at Hemmer's funeral about how much the former engineer had meant to her. She then decided to stay in Starfleet in part to honor him. In the trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, Uhura says "I have this crazy theory" as she hurries after new engineer, Pelia. Pelia replies that she "love[s] a crazy theory." Based on this interaction alone, it seems like the two will get along and that Pelia will support Uhura's ideas. Though not much information has been released about the new Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, it seems Uhura wishes to continue her engineering education with Pelia.

Strange New Worlds Season 1 Set Up A More Versatile Uhura Than TOS

While the Uhura of The Orginal Series was often left without much to do besides declare "hailing frequencies open, " Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has made several important updates to Uhura's character. Though she occasionally went on away missions in The Original Series, Lt. Uhura was mostly relegated to manning the Communications station on the bridge.

Communications seems to fittingly become Ensign Uhura's main post in Strange New Worlds season 2, but she should also continue to gain experience helping in other departments. The Uhura of Strange New Worlds received a backstory for the iconic character, but she is impressively in the thick of the action on the Starship Enterprise. Hopefully, this more versatile Uhura will continue to shine in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 as she befriends the USS Enterprise's new Chief Engineer.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 premieres Thursday, June 15, on Paramount+.

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See USS Enterprise’s Engineering In ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Created Using Virtual Production Tech

| May 18, 2022 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 31 comments so far

The AR Wall virtual set technology introduced in season four of Star Trek: Discovery is being put to good use by Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Not only is the AR wall being used to help create some of those alien worlds, but it is also being used for some sets within the USS Enterprise itself. Thanks to team behind the show’s visual effects, we can now get a closer look at how it’s done.

Pixomondo’s virtual engineering

The often talked about AR Wall used by Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (and Star Trek: Discovery ) is located at Pixomondo’s and William F. White International’s virtual production stage in Toronto. Pixomondo has been working on the Star Trek shows since the launch of Discovery and introduced the AR wall for use in season four of Discovery .

The following video shows how practical set pieces and the AR wall are combined to create the set for engineering on the USS Enterprise.

Pixomondo also provided us with this photo from the production on Thursday’s episode “ Ghosts of Illyria ” showing off the engineering set.

USS Enterprise engineering set (Pixomondo)

The AR wall is also used for the Enterprise mess hall. Writer/producer Bill Wolkoff shared a video this week showing the ship at warp effect in action.

The Enterprise mess hall, in warp! This AR wall set by the genius Pixomondo artists was seen in the Strange New Worlds pilot. Best cafeteria view in the galaxy. pic.twitter.com/wvNbQxb9x7 — Bill Wolkoff (@flying_lobster) May 17, 2022

Of course, a big selling point for the AR Wall is creating alien worlds. Pixomondo shared some photos showing how the AR wall was used for Spock and T’Pring’s date on Vulcan in the premiere episode of the series. You can see in the following two photos a sort of before and after once the AR wall displays the virtual Vulcan environment.

AR wall stage getting set up (Pixomondo)

AR wall showing virtual Vulcan (Pixomondo)

Gaming tech driving new virtual sets

Pixomondo’s virtual set and AR wall utilizes technology from the Unreal Engine, which is gaming technology being applied for film production. Unreal released their own video showing off how the tech was used in season four of Discovery .

New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debut on Thursdays exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Latin America, Australia and the Nordics. The series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada. In New Zealand, it is available on TVNZ , and in India on  Voot Select .  Strange New Worlds  will arrive via Paramount+ in select countries in Europe when the service launches later this year, starting with the UK and Ireland in June.

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Nice, but where are the huge vats?

This is no brewery!

Starfleet finally figured out that beer was not a good catalyst for generating a warp field.

Nope, just mushrooms.

Technically that wasn’t engineering as in the engine room but more the water reclamation room.

nice. It’s modern but enough of a reflection of what’s been done in TOS that you can almost hand wave TOS away as being the ‘standard def / you might have cataracts’ release and now we’re finally seeing the same ship but in high def and with our glasses on.

I like those designs. Retrofuturistic. Looks like an extension of the TOS-bridge to the engineering room, if they had the money back then.

I like this engineering design a lot, and a lot more than the version we’ve briefly seen on Short Treks. The physical set pieces of the warp core are super retro and the virtual conduits reflect the TOS basic design. The only downside is the frantic nature of this promo video. Not my style…

I definitely agree with that. I didn’t like the engineering look in Short Treks either, but yeah it was a quick thing to do for a few seconds, I don’t think anyone thought it would really look that way if it became a real show.

I still think this one looks ridiculously big but that’s the ship in general.

I assumed what was seen in Short Treks was the upper part of the warp core where the reactants are injected/directed, and what’s shown in Strange New Worlds is the actual intermix chamber & power distribution manifold.

It’s so interesting watching this concept in production tech evolve over the past 15 years or so. I remember using mods and Battlefield 2 for aircraft shots in a short film I was making back then… and then Sanctuary doing the old version of this with greenscreen physical “blocks” and MLG camera interfaces.

Beautiful. Looks TOS and functional. Love it!!! My only request would be the large display boards on the side where engineers can see the power distribution, warp fields, manipulate energy levels, etc and some ladders like TOS for access. Big displays, see TOS with some engineers for the chief engineer to demand more power from with the displays going red and sparks flying that he has to report to the Captain that she can’t do much more than this!!

I second that.

Yes, but where do they brew their beer?

Like I was saying…

Cool design but it looks way too big for a Constitution class ship. Or has SNW gone the JJVerse route of arbitrarily doubling the size of the ship?

Judging by the size of Pike’s quarters, the ship is bigger now.

It’s all way to big, just plainly showing this is not the TOS/TNG universe the producers keep insisting it is.

Oh, were you expecting canon? lol! The ship is gigantic now, I think the design is 442 meters vs ~289 for the original Connie

After seeing the vast empty spaces inside the ship in Discovery I don’t think anyone can or should care about this anymore :(

The sets are amazing but man this ship looks so big compared to the original Enterprise. And the ‘mess hall’ looks closer to a fancy New York restaurant lol. Not a huge deal it just feels more like a luxury cruise liner compared to the original which was closer to a Navy vessel; especially its more limited space.

But at least engineering doesn’t look like a brewery.

Baby steps. Some are still see TNG and think a hotel lobby is more the environment for drama and excitement than a cramped combat information centre. Hmm… what is more exciting warship navy environment complete with displays or the lobby of the Best Western complete with elevator door and couch? That being said I think some Producers/Directors on SNW who shoot a scene on a bridge set where people can talk to each other in a shot without screaming and without just a giant door in the background going “wow, this is amazing!!! Why hasn’t this been done before?!?!” Gives me hope for the future of Trek.

Is the part where everything comes at the camera like the lightning tunnel Spock passes through in TMP supposed to be a warp reaction? Couldn’t make head nor tail of any of that.

I can’t wait till I see some sort of official blueprints to see how Engineering fits into the Secondary Hull.

Might as well ask for a blueprint of the Tardis

Discovery make Tardis-style ship interior canon. I can’t care about those details (blueprints etc) anymore thanks to that.

Isn’t this nothing more than a high tech version of “blue-screen” Star Trek , “Hidden Frontier” from 2000-2007?! :) Another thing Fan Films did first!

It’s not a blue screen because the backgrounds are projected in real time so the actors actually have something to react to. If anything it’s closer to a 21st Century version of the front projection system that Kubrick used for the Dawn of Man scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey where (and I’m really oversimplifying this) prehistoric backgrounds were projected onto a giant screen.

It’s a giant curved LED screen. The imagery on it is a virtual set, generated in real time by Unreal Engine software, most commonly used in game development.

It tracks the real-world camera position to match views / movement in the virtual set accordingly, so it doesn’t look like a flat mural, but a real 3D space.

Virtual lighting inside the scene is matched with on-set lighting rigs, and bonus, since the LED wall surrounds the actors, you get realistic reflections etc so they don’t look like they’re standing in front of a green screen.

Great behind-the-scenes video from the Discovery production team here: https://youtu.be/WDGmLE6IiGQ

No, because it’s displayed and then actually filmed with the actors, it also reacts to camera movements so it appears to have 3D depth.

If anything this is the exact OPPOSITE of a blue/greenscreen

• View history

Commander Pelia was a female Lanthanite Starfleet officer who lived on Earth from the 6th century BC through at least the 23rd century . She served as an instructor at Starfleet Academy before being assigned to Operational Support Services as chief fleet inspector , and later transferring to the USS Enterprise as chief engineer . While otherwise indistinguishable from a Human , Nyota Uhura was able to identify her species by her accent .

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 Instructor at Starfleet Academy
• 2.2 Serving aboard the USS Enterprise
• 3 Personal life
• 4.1 Appearances
• 4.2 Background information
• 4.3 External link

Early life [ ]

Pelia claimed to have lived through the entirety of Human history . She further claimed to have been a contemporary of Pythagoras , and that she knew Cary Grant . ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ", " Those Old Scientists ")

During the 21st century , Pelia ran an antique and curio shop in Vermont called The Archeology Department . In 2022 , she was visited by La'an Noonien-Singh and James T. Kirk , who had time traveled from two alternate versions of 2259 . They were seeking a way to detect a cold fusion reactor in Toronto ; Pelia gave them a 1980s divers' wristwatch containing phosphor that glowed in the presence of tritium , a by-product of the reactor.

When the New World Economy ended the use of currency on Earth in the 22nd century , Pelia still resided in Vermont, living in a bunker in case the " no money, socialist utopia thing turned out to be a fad . " ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

She was friends with Amanda Grayson , who was one of the first Humans that she revealed her Lanthanite heritage to. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

Starfleet career [ ]

Instructor at starfleet academy [ ].

Pelia served as an instructor at Starfleet Academy for a time teaching numerous Starfleet cadets . She considered Montgomery Scott one of her best students , but gave him some of her worst grades. She also gave Una Chin-Riley middling grades for what she considered 'sloppy' work, something that Una bore a grudge over for some time. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ", " Hegemony ")

Serving aboard the USS Enterprise [ ]

Pelia and a team of inspectors were conducting system inspections and upgrades aboard Enterprise when a surreptitious distress call was received from La'an Noonien-Singh . Recognizing an urgent need to assist, acting captain Spock devised a plan with his remaining senior officers to steal the Enterprise from Starbase 1 by faking an imminent warp core breach . However, Pelia saw through the subterfuge immediately, as she continues to teach on this subject at Starfleet Academy. She nonetheless allowed Spock to proceed, assuming that as a Vulcan , he had sound reasons for doing so.

Having uncovered and averted the threat of a continued Federation-Klingon War , Pelia confided in Spock over bloodwine that her true motivation for assisting the crew was out of boredom, that her current teaching position was no longer challenging or interesting enough. She observed that Enterprise appeared to be in very short supply of monotony, and volunteered her services to fill the vacant chief engineer 's position. ( SNW : " The Broken Circle ")

She was dealing with a dilithium shortage and wasn't able to visit with Amanda Grayson when she boarded the Enterprise . According to Pike, she seemed awfully enthusiastic about purchasing dilithium. ( SNW : " Charades ")

It was at Pelia's suggestion that Nyota Uhura elected to transmit a piece of music into a subspace fold, which inadvertently created a quantum uncertainty field that compelled the crew to break into song during periods of heightened emotional stress. ( SNW : " Subspace Rhapsody ")

Personal life [ ]

Pelia next to one of her possessions

Pelia was a self-described " packrat ", who owned artifacts from throughout Human history. One of these was The Concert from the Louvre , which she insisted was a fake. Another was The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil . ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Broken Circle " ( Season 2 )
• " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow "
• " Lost in Translation "
• " Those Old Scientists "
• " Subspace Rhapsody "
• " Hegemony "

Background information [ ]

Pelia was played by Carol Kane .

External link [ ]

• Pelia at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

Star Trek Has A New Scotty (Besides Strange New Worlds’ Young Engineer)

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Finale - "Old Friends, New Scientists"

• Chief Engineer Andy Billups loves the USS Cerritos just as much as Scotty loved the USS Enterprise, and he jumps to the ship's defense when insulted.
• Billups shows his dedication to the Cerritos by being willing to fight on behalf of the ship, similar to how Scotty fought for the Enterprise.
• The USS Cerritos currently has the best engineering team in modern Star Trek, surpassing the USS Enterprise in terms of the size and development of their team.

Star Trek: Lower Decks established the USS Cerritos' Chief Engineer shares the passion for his ship that Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan) felt for the USS Enterprise on Star Trek: The Original Series . From TOS through its subsequent movies to his appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation , Scotty loved the Enterprise. Over the course of his time as her Chief Engineer, Scotty learned all of the little quirks and idiosyncracies of the Enterprise, and he could repair her engines better than anyone. Because of his quick thinking and creative solutions, Scotty became known as a miracle worker when it came to any engineering-related problems on the ship.

The Star Trek Lower Decks season 4 finale saw the USS Cerritos and its crew confront disgraced Starfleet cadet Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) and foil his plot to create his own armada, Nova Fleet. As part of their plan to rescue the kidnapped Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and stop Locarno, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and the Cerritos crew have to visit Orion and ask for a battleship. As Lt. D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) negotiates with the leader of the Orions (who also happens to be her sister), D’Erika (Ariel Winter) insults the Cerritos. Chief Engineer Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) quickly jumps to the Cerritos' defense, establishing that he loves his ship just as much as Scotty loves the Enterprise.

Related: Star Trek: Lower Decks Cast Guide - Who Voices Each Character In All 4 Seasons

Lower Decks’ Engineer Billups Just Became Star Trek’s New Scotty

Since Star Trek: Lower Decks shifts the focus from the senior staff to the lower-level officers, or Lower Deckers, Billups has not become as significant a character as many of Star Trek's other Chief Engineers . Still, Billups is a welcome and often hilarious presence on Lower Decks, and the season 4 finale gives viewers even more reason to love him. While trying to convince Tendi to join her on Orion, D’Erika says: "Having you back at my side would mean more than some measly support ship." Without missing a beat, Billups indignantly replies: "The Cerritos is not measly. She is the gem of the [California Class]!”

If Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) didn't stop him, Billups looked ready to fight several armed Orions in defense of his ship . Scotty, too, was willing to throw a punch to defend the USS Enterprise. In TOS season 2, episode 15, "The Trouble With Tribbles," Scotty dives into a fistfight with some Klingons who insult the Enterprise. The fight quickly devolves into an all-out brawl, after which Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) delivers an epic dressing down to his misbehaving officers. Billups may not have actually thrown any punches, but he looked more than willing to fight on behalf of his beloved Cerritos.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 6, "Trials and Tribble-ations," revisits "The Trouble With Tribbles," and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), and Constable Odo (René Auberjonois) all get involved in the brawl with the Klingons.

Lower Decks Has Modern Star Trek’s Best Engineer Team

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the USS Cerritos currently has Star Trek's best engineering team. With Chief Engineer Billups, Lt. Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and the rest of the engineers, the Cerritos has a more substantial team than the USS Enterprise of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . After the death of Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horack) in Strange New Worlds season 1, Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) took over as Chief Engineer, but the rest of the Enterprise's engineering team hasn't been developed in the prequel show.

With the introduction of the young Lt. Scotty (Martin Quinn) in the Strange New Worlds season 2 finale, the Enterprise will hopefully have him join Engineering and Strange New Worlds can define the Enterprise's Engineering team. But until then, the Cerritos may just have the Enterprise beat when it comes to its engineering department. Star Trek: Lower Decks has produced some pretty great Star Trek, and its engineering team remains one of the best.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek Lower Decks

Summary: The animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the support crew on one of Starfleet’s least significant ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and Tendi (Noël Wells) have to keep up with their duties and their social lives often. At the same time, the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

Release Date: 2020-08-06

Cast: Jack Quaid, Gillian Vigman, dawnn lewis, Noel Wells, Eugene Cordero, Fred Tatasciore, Jerry O'Connell, Tawny Newsome

Genres: Animation, Adventure, Action

Story By: gene roddenbury

Writers: Gene Roddenberry

Network: Paramount

Streaming Sevice: Paramount+

Franchise(s): Star Trek

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Published Apr 12, 2024

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Renewed for Fourth Season

The acclaimed hit original series is currently in production for its third season.

StarTrek.com

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will return for a fourth season.

Co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers and executive producer Alex Kurtzman confirms in a statement, "On behalf of the cast and crew of ‘ Strange New Worlds ’ we are thrilled and grateful to continue our voyages together. We can't wait for you to join us and the crew of the Enterprise on another season of exploration and adventure."

The third season, set to debut in 2025, is officially under way with production continuing in Toronto.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the  U.S.S. Enterprise . The series features fan favorites from Season 2 of  Star Trek: Discovery  — Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series follows Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Una Chin-Riley (Number One) in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the  U.S.S. Enterprise , as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  also stars Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La’An Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners. Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet serve as executive producers in addition to Alonso Myers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth and Aaron Baiers.

Watch the first two seasons of  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  now!

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, South Korea, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, the series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Penn Engineers Recreate Star Trek’s Holodeck Using ChatGPT and Video Game Assets

By Ian Scheffler

In Star Trek: The Next Generation , Captain Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise leverage the holodeck, an empty room capable of generating 3D environments, to prepare for missions and to entertain themselves, simulating everything from lush jungles to the London of Sherlock Holmes . Deeply immersive and fully interactive, holodeck-created environments are infinitely customizable, using nothing but language: the crew has only to ask the computer to generate an environment, and that space appears in the holodeck.

Today, virtual interactive environments are also used to train robots prior to real-world deployment in a process called “Sim2Real.” However, virtual interactive environments have been in surprisingly short supply. “Artists manually create these environments,” says Yue Yang , a doctoral student in the labs of Mark Yatskar and Chris Callison-Burch , Assistant and Associate Professors in Computer and Information Science (CIS), respectively. “Those artists could spend a week building a single environment,” Yang adds, noting all the decisions involved, from the layout of the space to the placement of objects to the colors employed in rendering.

That paucity of virtual environments is a problem if you want to train robots to navigate the real world with all its complexities. Neural networks, the systems powering today’s AI revolution, require massive amounts of data, which in this case means simulations of the physical world. “Generative AI systems like ChatGPT are trained on trillions of words, and image generators like Midjourney and DALLE  are trained on billions of images,” says Callison-Burch. “We only have a fraction of that amount of 3D environments for training so-called ‘embodied AI.’ If we want to use generative AI techniques to develop robots that can safely navigate in real-world environments, then we will need to create millions or billions of simulated environments.” 

If we want to use generative AI techniques to develop robots that can safely navigate in real-world environments, then we will need to create millions or billions of simulated environments. Chris Callison-Burch, Associate Professor Computer and Information Science (CIS)

Enter Holodeck , a system for generating interactive 3D environments co-created by Callison-Burch, Yatskar, Yang and Lingjie Liu , Aravind K. Joshi Assistant Professor in CIS, along with collaborators at Stanford, the University of Washington, and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2). Named for its Star Trek forebear, Holodeck generates a virtually limitless range of indoor environments, using AI to interpret users’ requests. “We can use language to control it,” says Yang. “You can easily describe whatever environments you want and train the embodied AI agents.”

Holodeck leverages the knowledge embedded in large language models (LLMs), the systems underlying ChatGPT and other chatbots. “Language is a very concise representation of the entire world,” says Yang. Indeed, LLMs turn out to have a surprisingly high degree of knowledge about the design of spaces, thanks to the vast amounts of text they ingest during training. In essence, Holodeck works by engaging an LLM in conversation, using a carefully structured series of hidden queries to break down user requests into specific parameters. 

Just like Captain Picard might ask Star Trek’s Holodeck to simulate a speakeasy, researchers can ask Penn’s Holodeck to create “a 1b1b apartment of a researcher who has a cat.” The system executes this query by dividing it into multiple steps: first, the floor and walls are created, then the doorway and windows. Next, Holodeck searches Objaverse , a vast library of premade digital objects, for the sort of furnishings you might expect in such a space: a coffee table, a cat tower, and so on. Finally, Holodeck queries a layout module, which the researchers designed to constrain the placement of objects, so that you don’t wind up with a toilet extending horizontally from the wall. 

To evaluate Holodeck’s abilities, in terms of their realism and accuracy, the researchers generated 120 scenes using both Holodeck and ProcTHOR, an earlier tool created by AI2, and asked several hundred Penn Engineering students to indicate their preferred version, not knowing which scenes were created by which tools. For every criterion — asset selection, layout coherence and overall preference — the students consistently rated the environments generated by Holodeck more favorably. 

The researchers also tested Holodeck’s ability to generate scenes that are less typical in robotics research and more difficult to manually create than apartment interiors, like stores, public spaces and offices. Comparing Holodeck’s outputs to those of ProcTHOR, which were generated using human-created rules rather than AI-generated text, the researchers found once again that human evaluators preferred the scenes created by Holodeck. That preference held across a wide range of indoor environments, from science labs to art studios, locker rooms to wine cellars. 

Finally, the researchers used scenes generated by Holodeck to “fine-tune” an embodied AI agent. “The ultimate test of Holodeck,” says Yatskar, “is using it to help robots interact with their environment more safely by preparing them to inhabit places they’ve never been before.”

Across multiple types of virtual spaces, including offices, daycares, gyms and arcades, Holodeck had a pronounced and positive effect on the agent’s ability to navigate new spaces. 

For instance, whereas the agent successfully found a piano in a music room only about 6% of the time when pre-trained using ProcTHOR (which involved the agent taking about 400 million virtual steps), the agent succeeded over 30% of the time when fine-tuned using 100 music rooms generated by Holodeck. 

“This field has been stuck doing research in residential spaces for a long time,” says Yang. “But there are so many diverse environments out there — efficiently generating a lot of environments to train robots has always been a big challenge, but Holodeck provides this functionality.” 

In June, the researchers will present Holodeck at the 2024 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Computer Vision Foundation (CVF) Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) Conference in Seattle, Washington.

This study was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science and at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2). 

Additional co-authors include Fan-Yun Sun, Jiajun Wu, and Nick Haber at Stanford; Ranjay Krishna at the University of Washington; Luca Weihs, Eli Vanderbilt, Alvaro Herrasti, Winson Han, Aniruddha Kembhavi, and Christopher Clark at AI2.