A company calling itself SpaceVR wants to let people experience what it's like to go into space — without leaving the comfort and safety of their living room couch.
The company has launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $500,000 to get its specially designed VR camera, known as Overview One, onto the International Space Station.
From there, it would broadcast virtual reality images back to Earth, letting people with virtual reality gear such as Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and other systems experience live, 360-degree views from orbit, the company says on its Kickstarter page. So far, 103 backers have pledged $7,215 toward the $500,000 goal, with 29 days to go.
"Only 536 people have ever been to space; at SpaceVR we ask, what about the other 7 billion?" it says.
Intended to be fitted onto a 3D-printed camera mount, Overview One will use its six pairs of stereoscopic 3D cameras to shoot 4K video and then stitch the footage into a 360-degree video sphere for beaming back to Earth.
The company says it is considering a subscription model, something on the order of $10 a month, which would let users become virtual astronauts.
SpaceVR engineers have tested the camera system by sending it to high altitudes aboard a balloon. The cameras are highly modified versions of the GoPro consumer video cameras.
Once aboard the International Space Station, there would be opportunities for unique space views, says Isaac DeSouza, SpaceVR co-founder.
"The camera is a handheld camera," he says. "We envision the astronauts being able to put the camera in places like the Cupola, you just clip it on there. But at the same time, the astronauts are welcome and encouraged to move the camera around, put it in different modules, record different things."
The company hopes to be able to send the camera to the ISS in December on a resupply mission aboard a robotic Cygnus cargo capsule from Orbital Sciences.
Once in place, it would begin collecting virtual reality footage that would be available to subscribers every week.
"It's like Netflix, except you get to go to space." DeSouza says.
A $250 Kickstarter donation will bring a one-year subscription to Overview One content, the company says.
DeSouza says he sees the potential for Overview One to become a global phenomenon.
"With 500 people experiencing this, it's like a novelty. But with a million people experiencing this, it's a movement," he says. "And with a billion people, you've had a shift in global consciousness."
