Opaque Multimedia’s Earthlight lets you explore the outside of the International Space Station through an Oculus Rift headset, with Microsoft Kinect 2 motion tracking of your hands and arms
Wondrous as today’s technology is, there remains no feasible way to put ordinary people in space. Except, it seems, through virtual reality.
Australian multimedia company Opaque Multimedia has combined an Oculus Rift headset with Microsoft Kinect 2 motion tracking to make it possible for every Tom, Dick, and Sally on the planet to get a first-hand (virtual) taste of life on – or rather just outside – the International Space Station. The comapny’s new tech demo, Earthlight, lets players explore in first person around the outside of the ISS as it orbits the Earth, safe in the comfort of their living room.
Earthlight may not capture every element of the real experience, but it was designed to get as close to it as possible. Move your hands out in front of you and you’ll see in your headset a space-gloved hand exactly where you’d expect it to be. Similarly, reach out to a handle or bit of scaffolding and give it a tug and your virtual self will begin to float forwards. And as you explore you might just see the Earth as it looks from 431 kilometers (268 miles) above.
It was difficult to make this work from a technical standpoint because even a millisecond delay or minor deviation between your movement and your avatar’s movement can make the experience more horrifying than exhilarating. Project lead Norman Wang says that to keep it running smoothly they had to push both the software and hardware to their limit.
Read more: Tech demo lets you visit the International Space Station in VR
The Latest on: Virtual reality
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Virtual reality” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Virtual reality
- Virtual Reality in Tourism Market Growth by 2031on March 22, 2023 at 7:42 pm
The MarketWatch News Department was not involved in the creation of this content. Mar 22, 2023 (The Expresswire) -- The "Virtual Reality in Tourism Market" study describes how the technology industry ...
- Montreal’s Shriners Hospital fights pain, anxiety using virtual realityon March 22, 2023 at 3:28 pm
At the Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal, virtual reality is now being used to distract children during medical procedures after a successful study.
- Lessons in virtual reality: What these computer science students built (and learned) in 10 weekson March 22, 2023 at 10:04 am
The tech world is abuzz about artificial intelligence, but there’s still plenty to learn and accomplish in virtual and augmented reality, judging from the projects created by University of ...
- Virtual Reality Now Fully Integrated to the Hospital's Care Processeson March 22, 2023 at 7:00 am
In 2019, the nursing research team launched a qualitative study on the use of virtual reality in hospital settings. The results showed that 84% of patients who used VR reported having a positive ...
- Police academy in Mancos unveils new virtual reality training simulatoron March 22, 2023 at 3:45 am
Visualize a police officer responding to call of a man acting in a menacing manner in a nice tree-lined neighborhood with manicured lawns and boxy two-story homes. When Sgt. Angelo Martinez ...
- Avicar Fuses Virtual and Reality in Auto Racing’s Wildest Next Phaseon March 21, 2023 at 2:04 pm
Avicar’s newly launched VR platform will let remote drivers compete with actual cars on a real race track from anywhere in the world. Most virtual reality experiences tend to stay in the digital world ...
- How Virtual Reality Workouts Can Improve Your Body Imageon March 21, 2023 at 10:30 am
It’s easy to look at the intersection of fitness and technology and see only disturbing signs: Studies have linked technology, particularly social media, with unrealistic body image, eating disorders, ...
- Getting In Physical Shape Via Virtual Realityon March 21, 2023 at 6:00 am
Virtual reality fitness training at its finest. FitXR. The straps on my Oculus Quest virtual reality goggles have stretched out over time. So I find myself perpetually adjusting t ...
- Top 7 virtual reality movies to add to your watchliston March 20, 2023 at 7:07 am
Explore a diverse range of 7 VR movies, from sci-fi to horror to animated comedies, featuring themes such as survival, paranormal investigations and more.
- Virtual Reality Is Still Trying to Get Gameon March 19, 2023 at 6:01 am
Despite high-profile attempts, VR remains a niche in videogames as Sony tees up another attempt to crack the market.
via Bing News
