Human Spaceflight and robotic exploration image of the week:

The directions are simple, the conditions less so: press the corresponding physical button indicated on the headset display while experiencing weightlessness. Participants in an experiment running on ESA’s 66th parabolic flight campaign are helping researchers to develop augmented reality as a useful tool for astronauts on the International Space Station.

Detailed instructions displayed on a laptop often require astronauts to interrupt their workflow and concentration to refer back to checklists. By replacing static displays like laptops with augmented reality headsets, a team at the University of Rostock aim to increase astronauts’ efficiency and accuracy when working science experiments on the Station.

To begin creating a useful device, developers need to understand how users interact with their environment. In the case of space, the lack of a perceivable up or down makes for a unique frame of reference that affects hand–eye coordination and similar skills. Researchers have boarded an aircraft to work with augmented reality systems in the few seconds of weightlessness these specialised flights provide.

The participant pictured is wearing an augmented reality headset displaying 12 targets arranged in a circle as well as motion-capture sensors to track body movement. During weightlessness, she is shown a target that must be touched on a fixed, vertical board in front of her. Developers track her performance to understand field of view and visual-motor skills under weightless conditions. This feedback is then used to tailor the augmented reality software to the subject’s performance in this unique environment.

Essentially, the augmented reality headsets aim to replace the laptop displays that the astronauts currently consult for instructions during science operations on the Station. Developers expect to make technical changes based on the performance measures and to run the experiment in future parabolic flight campaigns, with the ultimate goal of getting the hardware ready for testing on future astronaut missions on the Station.

The 66th parabolic flight campaign is being run by Novespace in Bordeaux with sponsorship from ESA, the DLR German Aerospace Centre and France’s CNES space agency.

Credit: ESA-A.Conigli

Ever daydreamed about owning your own spaceship? As the next best thing – thanks to a free app launching today – anyone with an Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3 or 3S VR headset can have ESA’s Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence turn up in their own living room.

Developed by Italian startup DIVE in cooperation with ESA’s Hera mission team, the “Guardians of Earth” app allows users to peer within a virtual spacecraft, learn about how it works, assemble its elements and follow its journey through space to its target asteroid.

“The availability of this app makes for a great Christmas gift, allowing people to learn about and interact with our mission in a totally new and immersive way,” notes Hera mission manager Ian Carnelli. “This was a dream project for DIVE founder Luca De Dominicis, who sadly recently passed away, yet whose vision for making space exploration accessible to everyone continues through this collaboration.”

DIVE CEO Michaelangelo Mochi adds: “Partnering with ESA is a journey we cherish deeply, akin to astronauts venturing into the unknown. We are proud to work alongside an organisation that shares our vision and commitment to exploration.”

Launched last October, Hera is ESA’s first planetary defence mission, on its way to visit the first asteroid to have had its orbit altered by human action. By gathering close-up data about the Dimorphos asteroid, which was impacted by NASA’s DART spacecraft in 2022, Hera will help turn asteroid deflection into a well understood and potentially repeatable technique. Hera is currently on its way to a ‘swingby’ of Mars next spring which will set on course towards Dimorphos.

With Guardians of Earth, users can engage with the Hera spacecraft in remarkable detail through augmented reality. They can choose to put it together piece by piece, discover its advanced instrumentation and experience key space travel technologies. Through the involvement of video game studio 34BigThings, the app offers a 360-degree immersive experience, projecting users into the cosmos with Hera, bringing them face-to-face with celestial bodies encountered along the way.

From today, the app is available for free on Apple Vision Pro from the App Store and for Meta Quest 3 and 3S.

Want to know more about the Hera mission? Try asking the mission ‘directly’, through Hera Space Companion, an interactive AI-powered assistant providing facts about the mission and real-time data from space. The Hera Space Companion has been developed by Terra Mater Studios, Impact AI, and Microsoft Austria in collaboration with ESA.

Credits: ESA/Terra Mater

Take the 360 degree tour here

Take an interactive multimedia virtual reality tour of Matava Eco-resort here

One fine day augmented reality will help to reduce the 'suckage' of boring lectures.

Village inhabitants report more and more effects from climate change impacts including coastal erosion and storm surge. Stumps testify - In the past 10 years they have lost a number of large trees to increasingly powerful cyclones.

I'm testing with new pictures, and I think I'll create a triptych.

All of this will be inspired by Nirvana's music.

www.robertogrosso.com

I dropped by the “Trail Blazer” mural being worked on by artist Wendy Popko. She was hard at work, until I asked whatcha doin, but she stopped to chat about the mural, that was commissioned by the city of Sterling Heights. It will be a very unique mural using AR - Augmented Reality, that will allow you to use an app on your cellphone to watch the mural come alive with movement. It is on the Ventimiglia Italian Market wall - near 15 mile and Dodge Park Roads @wendypopko @cityofsterlingheights #muralart #wallart #ventimigliaitalianmarket @ventimigliaitalianfoodsco #olympuspenepl7 #documentyourdays #macombcounty

Hi Rajini Fans,

ThoughtMaQers proudly presents Enthiran 2.0 Augmented Reality Trailer for the die-hard “RAJINI FANS”.

It's just a "Fan Made”, non-official trailer for enticing excitement.

Download “pop6AR” from AppStore or Playstore and scan the reference image to enjoy the trailer.

Enthiran 2.0 Augmented Reality Video Trailer is developed using ThoughtMaQers VFX and CGI.

It is also available on our media & entertainment channel “House Of Mixx”.

We hope You Guys will like it and enjoy the new Augmented Reality Awesome Experience.

Feel the difference….RUSH !

Cheers :-)

Playstore : play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thoughtmaqers.q...

Appstore : itunes.apple.com/vn/app/qapp-3d-augmented-reality/id98983...

www.round.me/tour/10516/view/26069

Before/After of the day: "Sketch Fight". I will soon post on my Youtube a giant before/after compilation to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of my series "Pencil vs Camera". Join my Youtube Channel here: www.youtube.com/user/BenHeineChannel

Photo, drawing and concept by me as always www.benheine.com

Buy a print: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine

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Avant/Après du jour: "Sketch Fight". Je vais bientôt poster sur mon Youtube un diaporama géant avant/après pour célébrer les 10 ans de ma série "Pencil vs Camera". Rejoignez ma chaîne Youtube ici : www.youtube.com/user/BenHeineChannel

Photo, dessin et concept de moi comme toujours www.benheine.com

Acheter une impression: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine

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#pencilvscamera #sketchfight #benheineart #drawing #dessin #pencil #art #creative #augmentedreality #man #mirror #young #youth #old #freedom #death #youtube #video #magic #illusion #beauty #photographie #photography #paper #fire