Rosetta VR: Close up view and Solar System model!

So I've spent a few hours playing with the Google Cardboard Virtual Reality app of the Rosetta mission. I've pencilled out what I want in the app (though this will inevitably change!) and had a go at the three basic parts of the app I want.

The first part of the app is a zoomed out view of comet 67P. Using the VR headset you can move your head around to look around the comet. You'll notice now that the images appear to have two mirrored copies of each other side by side. In fact, they are slightly offset from each other and provide the stereoscopic view needed to create the 3D view with the VR headsets. I added in lighting and a model of the Sun, meaning you can see what 67P looks like on the bright and dark side. There's also a model of Rosetta orbiting the comet, but it's a bit to small to see in these images.

Next up is a zoomed in view of the comet. I have a few ideas of what I'd like to have on this part, but I'm still fleshing out the idea. In the mean time, I'm enjoying getting views of the close up of the comet!

Finally I've made a model of the solar system. The hope is that in the end I will have a 3D model of the solar system, showing the journey of Rosetta since it's launch. I managed to find accurate positions of the planets from this really useful NADA site (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi). I can also get the Rosetta positions which is great, but I need to do some work on loading arrays with c#.

I saw Brian May posted today a stereoscopic image he helped make of comet 67P. It's amazing, but I wonder what he would think of my 3D VR model!

Rosetta Jet STEREO enhanced ! Animation is here http://t.co/1zDRKDltkd @ESA_Rosetta @mggtTaylor @joelwmparker Bri pic.twitter.com/Mz3jFzDYhq

— Dr. Brian May (@DrBrianMay) August 30, 2015

The day I got the European Space Agency logo in Kerbal Space Program

I was trying to think of something to post about today whilst sipping at my coffee on my day off, when I suddenly remembered one of the coolest things I've ever done, which I never posted about. About 6 months ago, I was playing Kerbal Space Program. If you've never heard of it before, it's a computer game where you control your own space agency, creating rockets and exploring the Solar System.

Part of the game allows you to add a logo for your space agency and one of the possible options is to use the NASA logo. However I was sad to see that the European Space Agency logo wasn't a possible option (having worked at ESA for a year I feel passionate about giving them their deserved publicity and appreciation!). So, I half jokingly sent a tweet to both ESA and the makers of Kerbal Space Program, commenting that they should get together so I can represent ESA.

Just seen that the @ESA symbol isn't a possible flag on @KerbalSpaceP, but NASA is. Please add it, it would be so great :)

— Matthew Allen (@UKAstroNut) December 6, 2014

I didn't expect to get anything back, let alone only a few minutes later from the guys behind KSP!

@UKAstroNut We have express permission to use the @nasa logo. If the @ESA would like to talk, we'd be all ears :)

— Kerbal Space Program (@KerbalSpaceP) December 6, 2014

So, the KSP guys were up for it. But ESA are a big serious corporation, surely it wouldn't be so easy with them....

@KerbalSpaceP @UKAstroNut @NASA of course it is OK to use the @esa logo. Here you are: http://t.co/HWKaZKtaGw pic.twitter.com/xZOHnGUb2z

— fabriziolab (@fabriziolab) December 6, 2014

Except it was! Just a few minute after ESA came back with the thumbs up to use the logo. As you can imagine, quite a few people on Twitter joined in to celebrate our diversifying of space agency logos...

@UKAstroNut @esa @KerbalSpaceP @NASA Nice work!

— Fraser Cain (@fcain) December 6, 2014

@esa @KerbalSpaceP @UKAstroNut @fabriziolab GG ESA. Now my rockets will look even nicer. :)

— Lars Mæhlum (@maehlum) December 6, 2014

And so, the European Space Agency logo was added to Kerbal Space Program in the next update and you can now represent them with the logo in game. It's great to see two big companies working together. Adding the logo was just a small thing, but it really makes a big difference!

Rosetta and Comet 67P in Virtual Reality!

So, I recently posted that I co-made a couple of virtual reality apps for phones, that you can check out using the cheap Google Cardboard headsets. I've been in a bit of a high since making and releasing these and have been trying to think what I'd like to do next.

I went to a great talk the other night about the recent European Space Agency Rosetta mission, which landed a probe on a comet. There are loads of amazing image of the comet named 67P and of Rosetta, but they don't really show off the scale or the beauty of the comet. So I suddenly had the idea of making a VR Google Cardboard app to show off the comet in it's full 3D glory! Partly to practice my skills at making apps, partly to use for outreach, but mainly because I want to see it.

Luckily models of comet 67P and Rosetta already exist, which makes my life a lot easier. I was worried I would have to make them myself, which would be a pain, but the European Space Agency have actually already done the hard work.

So I quickly put them in to a scene, whacked a temporary Sun in the background and added an image of the Milky Way to the overall background and here are the results!

This is what I managed after half an hour of playing this morning, but there's a long way to go before I make a really great app from the idea. Still, it's a good start. So, I'm going to give blogging about the project a go, in case people are interested in what I've done. So come back and check out my blog to see how I'm getting along!

Showing off the Solar System at Eisteddfod

So last week I was lucky enough to go to Eisteddfod, a festival in Wales that celebrates welsh culture, language and arts. Now, I'm not the artistic type (and I'm not even Welsh!), but a smaller feature of the festival is celebration of science in Wales. As a budding young scientist who studies in Wales, I ticked this box, which is how I got to go along.

A friend and I were showing off our latest science outreach project, two virtual reality apps that can be run on your phone, that let you explore the Solar System and the Universe! Using Google's Cardboard headset (which costs less than £10!), you can turn most smartphones in to a virtual reality headset.

Everyone loved the apps and were amazed at what they could see. Seeing the planets and sun in our solar system orbiting around in space in front of them drew a lot of  "Wow" and "So cool" comments. The fact that we also got the apps translated in Welsh in addition to English meant everyone was really excited about our project. I was amazed to see how friendly people at Eisteddfod were, considering I don't speak a word of Welsh. If you did see us there, thank you very much for coming and talking to us and having a look at our apps.

If you want to check out the apps and get them for yourselves for free, they are called Our Solar System VR and Our Universe In Light VR and are both on the Google Play Store!

Virtual Reality Apps I Made!

So, over the last month and a bit, I have been helping to develop some astronomy apps. The aim of them is to inspire and amaze people, whilst maybe teaching people some things. The amazement comes through the fact that they are virtual reality apps. Using the Google Cardboard headset you can explore our solar system and our universe in virtual reality. The headsets only cost around £10 on Amazon and the apps are free!

The two apps are called Our Solar System VR and Our Universe In Light VR. In Our Solar System VR, you are able to explore and travel around the solar system in virtual reality. You can look around at the planets and our sun, zoom to the planets to get a closer look and even learn some cool facts and information about each one. In our Universe In Light VR you can look at the Universe in different wavelengths of light, from radio to optical  to X-Ray. You can also check out some of the fascinating objects we can see in the Universe and learn more about each one.Both apps are completely free and all the information can be in either English or Welsh.

So why not go check out both the apps and buy yourself a Google Cardboard headset whilst you're at it. There' hundreds of other great apps to check out, so why not!