Fan Builds Fully Functioning Holochess Table
By Elaine Tveit
You remember the chess game Chewbacca and R2-D2 were playing in the Falcon in Episode IV? The one which C-3PO decides it would be better to “let the Wookiee win” so he doesn’t get his arms ripped off? That game is called Dejarik, or holochess. The are rules for it online, but until now no one has made a functioning replica of the holochess table.
Ian Martin, founder of Dejarik Creations, is the genius behind making the game of Dejarik into a reality (via Nerd Approved). Together with a few helpers (including his brother, Doug Martin), Ian has built a fully-functioning holochess table, complete with lights, buttons, and knobs. In fact, the only thing that’s missing are the hologram creatures, but Dejarik Creations have a plan to make even that farfetched element less of an impossibility and more of a future certainty.
Watch a demo of the holochess table below.
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Each of the monsters for Ian Martin’s Dejarik game were handcrafted and painted by Martin himself. He notes that moving such large pieces around the board can be cumbersome, however, and that’s where the holograms come in. He developed square chips to use in place of the monster figures, two of which are programmed to project a holographic image of a monster, visible through an app. Ian is also developing an app that will be released to the public so fans can play Dejarik in their own home.
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According to Dejarik Creations’s Facebook page, the venture’s goal is to create “interactive props, creatures, and games from the Star Wars universe.” It doesn’t specify what the end goal of this is; for example, if Martin intends to try to sell the Dejarik table. I don’t see him having any trouble on that score, but a business may not be his goal with this project. But after seeing what he and his team were able to do with this holochess table, I can’t wait to see what they choose from the Star Wars universe to bring to life next.