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!