NASA and its partners want to take advantage of the new virtual reality technology to let people experience Mars in the coming year.
NASA is teaming up with MIT and Fusion to develop a project that will let users explore the red planet long before the planned sending of astronauts to Mars in 2030s.
NASA's director of advanced exploration systems Jason Crusan revealed that the space agency is taking advantage of the VR technology in its astronaut training. This technology is likewise essential in carrying out spacecraft simulations. It is then reasonable to bring the model to the public which is expected to teach and stir up the interest of future scientists or astronauts.
"We saw this as an opportunity to share elements of our human Mars surface exploration concepts using today's advanced virtual reality technologies," said Crusan.
Users will be able to experience this for free via VR wearable devices, including Facebook's Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR. What's more, one can be able to take pleasure in the experience by using HTC Vive and PlayStation VR down the road.
This experience, according to Justin Sonnekalb, the technical designer of Irrational Games (the company which is currently developing this project), will let users to either drive the prototype of the Mars Rover or walk across the terrain of the planet.
Sonnekalb went on to say that the technology will use the real topographic data alongside exact color reference to provide users experience akin to the actual environment within the red planet.
"Most images from Mars are either raw data that hasn't been color-corrected to match the human eyesight, or has been tuned to reflect Earth's lighting conditions because it both affords greater visual contrast and appears more natural," said Sonnekalb.
Unreal Engine 4 Technology
In recreating the Martian atmosphere, the team is going to use the Unreal Engine 4 technology of Epic Games. This technology is employed in the forthcoming video games, which include Spyjinx of Chair Entertainment and Street Fighter V of Capcom.
Earlier this month, we reported that Google is letting people explore the inside of the White House with the use of Google Cardboard.
It pushed out a 360-degree video showing off a few rooms and corridors adorned with Christmas decorations within the White House, such as the East Colonade, East Garden Room, Vermeil Room, China Room and White House Library.
Google used its Jump rigs which boast 16 camera modules in coming up with the video.
