10 Biggest Advancements In Star Trek History

We've already talked about holograms that became self-aware, but now, let's go over some of the other ways this tech revolutionised life in the Federation.

The NX-01 Enterprise encountered an alien holodeck in the episode Unexpected, but it took a while before humanity's tech was able to catch up to that level. Less advanced holograms were used in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery (set in the mid-23rd century), but were soon phased out, likely because they used too much power or were too glitchy. These holograms weren't solid like the ones that came afterwards, but they could be used for communication, simple simulations, and target practice.

In the 24th century, shortly before the Enterprise-D went into service, holodecks were invented. This was, by far, the single greatest advancement in entertainment history. Using optical illusions to make the interior space appear bigger, users could escape into entire fantasy worlds, complete with characters, storylines, games, and anything else you could imagine. This tech made it possible to simulate solutions to engineering problems and to do virtually any activity completely safely. You could skydive from the safety of your own home.

The holodeck is probably the reason why we don't see too many people watching movies or playing video games in the 24th century.