MarsVR - A Virtual Reality Environment To Support Mars Exploration

jburk · 2018-05-17 01:39:44

The Mars Society is building a new open-source Virtual Reality platform — we call it “MarsVR” — that can be used for serious research towards the goal of sending humans to Mars.

The MarsVR Program will be a multi-phase effort designed to pioneer the emerging field of CrowdExploration, which we define as the partnership between the first astronauts on Mars and the VR experts and enthusiasts back on Earth. We aim to establish the capability of using Virtual Reality to assist with the initial human exploration of landing sites.

Phase I of the Mars VR Program will focus on designing training simulations for use at the Mars Desert Research Station, providing direct assistance in the training of MDRS crew members. We will also open-source the key elements of the platform so that the general public can freely make use of it to experience the exploration of Mars.

I want to re-emphasize that -- EVERYTHING WILL BE OPEN SOURCED. The only thing that won't will be the MDRS training content which we will be selling on Steam as a fundraising mechanism. Everything else -- the Unity project, the terrain assets, the 3-D models, and all documentation & training for the same, will be FREE AND OPEN SOURCE. We intend for this to be a serious research tool, public outreach tool, and STEM education tool.

Please support our Kickstarter and share this project with your friends & colleagues. Please like/share/comment on Social Media.

Kickstarter Page: http://bit.ly/MarsVR1

MarsVR Program Website: http://marsvr.io

Kickstarter Video: https://youtu.be/p4gObBBTzR4

Other videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P … 4X9dnwEFs-

tahanson43206 · 2020-10-26 13:21:13

For SpaceNut (primarily) ...

Thanks again for explaining how to use the topic focus of the search feature ... today, I looked for "virtual" and found three topics, one of which was this one by JBurk, which was published before I joined.

I like the idea of the proposal, and look forward to finding out what happened to it.

In the mean time, here is a Google Snippet (apparently) about the Earth business of offering virtual tours...

AVATOUR and Insta360 Offer Virtual Reality Remote ...www.globenewswire.com › news-release › 2020/03/11
Mar 11, 2020 — Imeve provides remote visitors with VR headsets from Oculus/Facebook. The hardware/software package starts at US$1190 (€1090, £990, ...

(th)

jburk · 2020-10-26 13:23:01

MarsVR is still an active project although it has been hard to recruit volunteers that know VR coding & 3-D Modelling. We are having a meeting soon to coordinate the project. I am also working with one of our original team members from 2018 to upload the models into Sketchfab.

tahanson43206 · 2020-10-26 13:56:10

For jburk re #3 ...

Thanks for your follow up! I'm glad to learn that the project is still alive, though perhaps in a back burner mode at present.

I think it (and similar projects) are likely to become increasingly popular as the hardware for viewing becomes (a) better and (b) cheaper

I've been underwhelmed by the equipment I've seen in demo situations to this point, but on the other hand, I am grateful there are enough enthusiasts to keep the technology coming along!

***
Because this is a rare opportunity to talk to you directly, I'm curious to know if you think there is a chance the idea of viewing the Mars 2020 videos over an extended time period is worth attempting.

As of now, no one has stepped forward in ** this ** forum to serve as an anchor for the effort.

Since I necessarily missed a good number of the presentations, I am optimistic that the vast majority of them are worth seeing, based on the ones I was able to catch.

For example, Number 43 (which just arrived in the available list) was ** really ** interesting (to me at least).

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-10-26 13:57:46)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-08-10 06:23:59

I think on Mars maybe people will use VR to relax or soothing entertainment, sound of whatever they enjoy the fun and chatter in an old NYC street, classic songs and scenes from a beach in California, maybe a polar scene from Finland or people dancing on Argentina streets or some zen garden in Thailand or Korea, maybe it will be Cajun culture the street building and food event scenes the sound of New Orleans blues, classical music concert in VR or some trees and a waterfall. In fictional tv shows the scifi Holodeck of Star Trek is a room device which uses "holograms" projected touchable light and electromagnetic energy which create the illusion of solid objects to create a realistic 3D simulation of a real or imaginary setting, in which participants can freely interact with the environment as well as objects and characters, and sometimes a predefined narrative.

Researchers find way to shrink a VR headset down to normal glasses size
https://www.pcgamer.com/researchers-fin … sses-size/

Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols closes hailing frequencies
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.the … _obituary/

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#1 2018-05-17 01:39:44

MarsVR - A Virtual Reality Environment To Support Mars Exploration

#2 2020-10-26 13:21:13

Re: MarsVR - A Virtual Reality Environment To Support Mars Exploration

#3 2020-10-26 13:23:01

Re: MarsVR - A Virtual Reality Environment To Support Mars Exploration

#4 2020-10-26 13:56:10

Re: MarsVR - A Virtual Reality Environment To Support Mars Exploration

#5 2022-08-10 06:23:59

Re: MarsVR - A Virtual Reality Environment To Support Mars Exploration

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