TED2014–Virtual Reality in Space
TED2014 30 year Celebration and Anniversary
Vancouver, BC March 17th – 21st
Last week the Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope and the MIT EyeWire team were invited to present a Virtual Reality in Space experience exhibit – the demo that went from neurons to space in a vivid, 360 degree experience from the International Space Station to ocular neurons. The immersive experience utilized our 16 Megapixel Wall display and two Oculus Rift goggles all powered by WWT. Without the goggles, you can experience a video of the tour.
In addition to the VR demo, on Thursday (3/20/14) NASA unveiled a new 360 deg mosaic of the Milky Way – the 20-gigapixel GLIMPSE360 mosaic and it was showcased on our TED2014 display wall, as well as online via browsers with our embedded WWT HTML5 control. The official press release from NASA and Spitzer called out the Microsoft WWT integration and the ability for web viewers to have instant access to the GLIMPSE360 imagery – check it out for yourself – the imagery is beautiful.
One of the more interesting interactions of the TED experience was having Cmdr Chris Hadfield be engaged by the ISS visualization on the display wall – especially since he spent much time on the ISS and knows it as well as anyone.
More articles on the experience:
NEXT Blog on Exhibit by David Chen
NASA's Spitzer Telescope Brings 360-Degree View of Galaxy to Our Fingertips – NASA press release
Tour the Milky Way in 20 billion pixels – CNET
Wisconsin scientists create dramatic 360-degree portrait of Milky Way – Journal Sentinel