Ever since Curiosity visited Mars, people have been wondering what happened to the footage Some information has been made public, but there is still a lot we don’t know. NASA acknowledges this fact and aims to make the journey of Curiosity available in virtual reality. It is accessible through the Access Mars website. Users still need a compatible headset for the proper experience, but it is certainly worth exploring.
It has to be said, there is a growing demand for alternative VR experiences. Especially when it comes to space exploration, there are quite a few opportunities to be explored in the near future. NASA has been working on plotting the path of Curiosity on Mars for quite some time now. They do so using the Microsoft HoloLens technology. Making this information accessible to the public has been somewhat of a struggle, but there are improvements on the horizon.
The Access Mars website, for example, provides some much-needed VR content to the world. Anyone with a VR or AR headset can experience Curiosity’s neighborhood on the planet Mars. It is a limited view of what the robot has come across since landing on the red planet. However, it is also a gesture of goodwill by NASA to show the world why these experiments matter. All you need is an internet connection and a compatible device.
NASA officials explain it as follows:
“Users also can visit four sites that have been critical to NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission: Curiosity’s landing site; Murray Buttes; Marias Pass and Pahrump Hills. “Additionally, the rover’s latest location on lower Mount Sharp will be periodically updated to reflect the mission’s ongoing progress.”
It is a pretty interesting development in the world of VR content. Given the scientific significance of Mars and its potential colonization, people want to see first-hand what makes this planet so appealing. Leveraging VR and AR technology for scientific purposes has been pretty successful so far. It is now time to offer the general public similar insights. Although it may take a while until we can actually visit Mars, a VR experience is the next best thing we can get right now.
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swgraham93 on November 7th, 2017 at 18:58 UTC »
im currently doing a NASA internship, and they actually give you a VR tour of the ISS at orientation! I couldn't even sleep that night i was so hyped!
jarekkam81 on November 7th, 2017 at 17:56 UTC »
I understand viewing this in VR but how do you view it in AR?
stanley604 on November 7th, 2017 at 16:39 UTC »
Considering that we were working on VR headsets back in the late '80s at NASA Ames, this is very fitting. It's cool to see them coming back.